My Personal Valentine
by ronOReds
Summary: Forks High is running a special Personal Ad column in their newspaper! Can Bella, Alice, and Rosalie find their special someone in time for Valentines Day! ExB, AxJ, EmxR
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello Everyone! This is my newest story, I hope you guys like it! I'm trying something a bit different this time. So review and tell me what you think! I would like to give a ****HUGE**** thank you to the author vjgm, who reviewed this story for me first to make sure everything came out the way I wanted it to, and also for giving me tremendous help with the 2****nd**** chapter! D If you have been living under a fanfiction rock and haven't read her stories, go check them out immediately!**

**Without further ado, ****My Personal Valentine**

**Premise**: **Girls are human, boys are vampires. Forks High School has decided to run a personal ads column for Valentines Day. [ExB, AxJ, EmxR**

**1**

"I hate Valentines Day," sighed Alice, as she reached onto my plate to spear a tator tot. I playfully slapped her hand away and laughed when she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Why are we talking about Valentines Day already, its two weeks away," chimed in Rosalie who was sitting to my right. She had her compact out and was examining her freshly applied lip gloss. "Besides, it's not as if there is anyone remotely dateable at this god forsaken high school."

My eyes involuntarily drifted to the other side of the cafeteria, where _they_ sat. Rosalie followed my gaze and sighed angrily. "Forget it Bella. They may be handsome, but they're _emotionally unavailable_." The way she said it made them sound like they had a disease. "They don't even notice _me_…there must be something wrong with them."

I watched as Alice put a finger in her throat, pretending to gag at Rosalie's comment.

"Hey!" I scolded when Rosalie picked up one of my tator tots to throw at her. "I would like to eat today!" I gave them the most serious face I could muster. Alice began to giggle quietly, which eventually led to us all bursting into laughter.

As our laughter died down, I couldn't help my drifting eyes which found their way back to the infamous Cullen table. Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were new students at Forks High School, just transferring in a month earlier. So far, they had been nothing but unfriendly to everyone that even attempted to speak to them. Although not many had. They were quite intimidating and it was pretty obvious they kept to themselves.

Alice, Rosalie and I had been best friends since middle school. The three of us were basically attached at the hip. I was pretty sure the reason we got along so well, was because of how different we were from each other. There was Rosalie, poised and beautiful; confident to the point of being insufferably annoying, but completely lovable at the same time. Then of course Alice, rambunctious little shopping queen, who was adorably friendly. And me, Bella, shy and clumsy. Well, at least that's how I saw myself. But Rosalie and Alice always told me that I was mysteriously appealing, whatever that meant.

Some of the girls in our class had tried to approach the new boys, but ended up getting shot down in a not so nice way. Rosalie, who I would always catch spying on Emmett from the corner of her eye, insisted that she wasn't interested in them. But Alice and I knew better. The truth was, she wouldn't be able to stand it if they actually rejected her like they did every other girl in the school. Rosalie was not used to being rejected. Alice on the other hand, confided that she may have a teensy crush on Jasper, but she admitted that he made her feel anxious, really anxious. And whenever she thought about going up to him him, she always bailed at the last minute due to her fluttering nerves.

I, being a warm blooded human, was not immune to the god like creatures either. But I had never had a boyfriend, and there was no way I was ever going to go up to any of them…ever. So all in all, the _new_ boys were _old_ news.

"Hey Bella," said a voice from behind me. I instinctively cringed but immediately tried to hide it.

"Hey Mike," I responded. Mike, Tyler, Austin, and Eric came sauntering over to our table. It was safe to say that these boys tried to follow us around everywhere. Everytime the weekend came around, they would try to plan group activities, inviting us all to come. They constantly came to our lunch table…it was getting annoying.

"Oh great," muttered Rosalie, but at the same time scooted over to make room for the boys. "What's up guys?" she said in a fake voice.

"Just waiting for the big announcement," answered Mike taking a seat right beside me. He had a habit of trying to sit too close, so once I felt him press up against my side, I leaned down to pretend to get something out of my backpack, effectively inching away. I looked up to see Alice roll her eyes at me. '_Obvi'_ she mouthed. I shrugged, signaling to her that I couldn't really care less if he was aware of my less than stealthy tactics.

"What big announcement?" Rosalie asked looking half interested. She had resumed applying her makeup. She didn't need it, but I know she enjoyed the boys swooning over her when she put it on. Purely for vanity reasons, but that was Rosalie.

"I don't know, some lame school paper thing," answered Tyler coolly, eyeing her freshly glossed lips. It was no secret that Tyler was head over heels for her. He had been building up the courage to ask her out for months.

"It's not lame, it's for Valentines Day," retorted Mike. He turned to smile at me, but I made sure I kept my eyes on my food. I didn't want to look at Mike after those words just came out of his mouth. Who knows what creepy ideas he would get in his head. Luckily, I was saved.

"_CHECK, CHECK ONE TWO, CHECK ONE TWO!"_

I looked up to see Jessica Stanley standing on a chair at the front of the cafeteria, bellowing into a microphone. She proceeded to tap the microphone, causing a loud muffling noise to echo across the room. "Can you guys hear me!"

"YES!" a few people screamed back. I half consciously looked over to see the three new boys with their ears covered, faces strained. _Humph_, I thought. _Must have sensitive hearing._

"Good afternoon!" said Jessica brightly, still atop the plastic chair. "I know you guys are _dying_ to hear our special announcement, so I won't keep you waiting any longer!"

"Thank. GOD." said Rosalie in a dramatic voice, just loud enough for Jessica to hear. Jessica's face remained plastered in a smile although I was pretty sure she heard the comment. Alice and I stifled our giggles behind our hands.

"For the next two weeks, the school newspaper will be running a special edition!" We all watched as she paused for effect. "In honor of Valentines Day, we want to spread as much love as we possible can! So the Forks High Newspaper is setting up a Personal Ads section!"

"Excuse me?!" shouted a cute blonde sophomore who was right near the microphone. "Advertising for dates?"

Jessica glared down at him. "No, it's not advertising for dates," she answered, "It's so much more than that. What if you see your soul mate in the halls every day and don't know it? What if you have things in common with someone you never even looked twice at?" Jessica stood there slightly teary eyed.

"How does this work?" snapped the blond.

"It's simple. Here are the rules: Everyone has to write a little bit about themselves and then give it to me. But don't use your real name, or say anything that will give you away, so make sure you disguise yourself with a nickname! After you've done that, I'll assign you a box number! Were going to set up boxes in the mini gym and everyone is going to have their own. So you can read through the personal ads, see if anyone sounds interesting, and write them a letter by putting it in their box!" she squealed, signaling the end of her speech.

No one spoke; I don't think anyone even moved. Everyone was utterly confused.

Mike stood up. "So it is advertising for dates?" he called across the room. "No thank you."

Jessica visibly deflated. "No, it's not like that. It's romantic!"

"Why don't you give us an example, Jessica?" Rosalie asked snidely. "Since you think personal ads are such a good idea."

Instead of being offended, Jessica got a slightly dreamy look in her eye. "Well," she began, "You could say –

Beautiful Brunette Seeks Hometown Boy

Loves pepperoni pizza and quiet picnics at the beach

Hates studying and airplane food

Waiting for the right one to finally notice her

Beautiful Brunette, Box #1

"So if anyone was interested, they would write me a note, slip it in my-um, the box, and hopefully it will be a match made in heaven! Of course, you can write to more than one person to see whose best for you."

The cafeteria erupted into noise all around me. Everyone began talking excitedly about personal ads. I, on the other hand, turned back to my tator tots. There was positively no way I was getting involved with this ridiculous idea. I could tell Rosalie felt the same way, because she immediately started talking about it, using words like 'desperate' and 'pathetic.' When the lunch bell rang, I grabbed my books and headed to my 6th period biology class. I walked by Jessica, who was still standing on her chair, answering any questions people had.

"So we can't tell anybody who we are?" asked a small freshman, who was staring up at Jessica with a fearful expression.

"Nope!" I heard her answer, "You use an alias, so you can strictly get to know people for who they are, instead of judging them by their looks."

I inwardly rolled my eyes. This whole thing was incredibly silly to me. I could not imagine myself writing a personal ad, and then running to check my box to see if I had got any responses. How are you supposed to market yourself in a paragraph? How could anyone see who you truly were, just from a few words?

So lost in my thoughts, I didn't pay attention to where I was going and out of nowhere I slammed into something cold and hard.

"Oh!" I gasped roughly, surprised by the suddenness of it. My hand flew to my books causing my books to scatter all over the floor. But before I could even attempt to pick them up, I saw an extended hand holding them out to me, neatly stacked. My face flushed red with embarrassment when I lifted my head to see who belonged to that hand. It was Edward Cullen, one of the new boys.

"Here you are, I'm sorry," he explained in a melodic voice. I stood frozen to the spot. Never had I been this close to him before, and his beauty hit me like a ton of bricks. I slowly admired his features, his ochre eyes, his flawless skin, and his adorably messy hair. I felt like my voice was stuck in my throat, but somehow I managed to find it just before the situation became awkward.

"Uh, thanks," I croaked, clearing my throat loudly as I grabbed my books back from him. "I'm sorry…too." And then, he smiled… an unbearably sexy smile. The kind of smile that made me feel as if I was unworthy to even look at him. But something was wrong it seemed, his eyes were confused as they stared back into mine…he almost seemed frustrated. No, that couldn't be it. But as I took in his expression once more, no other word came to my mind.

"It was my fault," he responded musically. He gave me one more quick smile, and turned gracefully and strode out of the cafeteria, leaving me rooted to the spot. After a few moments of watching his retreating form, I gathered my wits and continued on to my class.

_Wow,_ I thought to myself as I took my seat in biology. Is it possible for anyone to be that good looking? And I didn't even know him from adam, why would he give me that look? I pondered this for a bit until I heard the scraping metal of the seat beside me.

"Hey Bella," said Angela. She placed her books down neatly and reached in her bag to grab a pen. "What an announcement huh?" She quickly got herself situated and turned to me, looking amused. Angela was a great girl, besides Rose and Alice; I enjoyed talking with her the most out of anyone else at Forks High. If there was anyone who thought Jessica's announcement was as ludicrous as I did, it would be her.

"What an announcement," I repeated, mulling over the whole thing again. "I wonder where she came up with something like that."

"I think I can guess," was her answer, as she stared across the room. I turned my head to follow her gaze which was resting on Mike Newton. We both giggled for a second. It was common knowledge that Jessica had a rather large crush on him. Everyone was pretty much aware because she made it painfully obvious.

"The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me, I wouldn't be caught dead doing something like that," I huffed jokingly, thinking about actually trying to compose one of those ads. To my surprise, I only heard silence next to me.

"I don't know," Angela mused, her eyes locked on her notebooks in front of her. "It could be fun." She looked up at me a bit apprehensively. I couldn't believe my ears. Was this coming from the Angela I knew? "It's just…I've never had a date for Valentines Day, and everything is anonymous, so it seems pretty easy…" she trailed off. I couldn't find my voice to answer right away; I was completely shocked by her revelation.

"You're not thinking of writing one are you?" I asked incredulously. Her gaze was still directed away from me while I waited for an answer. "I thought you liked Ben Cheney, you guys have been hanging out a lot recently" I pushed, trying to locate my friend Angela somewhere in this madness. The Angela that I knew and loved would never succumb to one of Jessica Stanley's crazy ideas.

Her face became hard and she answered harshly. "Well Ben hasn't really taken the hint. He hasn't made any move yet and I'm sick of waiting." She turned to me sadly. "Maybe it's not meant to work out with him Bella, maybe I've just been getting my hopes up for nothing."

My voice left me again. Thankfully class started at that moment, so our conversation could end. I spent the rest of the class thinking about what Angela had told me. Was this the way people wanted to find dates? I thought this whole thing was going to be a big joke. Maybe I was wrong. I looked around the room to see pairs of people whispering and scribbling furiously on the papers in front of them. My mouth dropped open involuntarily. Could people actually be taking this _seriously_??

After school, I walked out into the parking lot and headed toward Rosalie's BMW. Her and Alice were leaning against the car waiting for me. They smiled as I headed towards them. I hopped in the front seat, and Alice slid in next to me. We always sat like this, crammed in the passenger seat because we could never decide who was going to sit in the back. Luckily Alice was smaller so we fit pretty easily. She reached down to turn on the radio, switching channels until she found an appropriate song.

"Yes! I love this song!" she shrieked next to me, turning the dial to maximum volume. Rosalie laughed and rolled down all the windows as 'Crank that' came blasting out of the speakers. Several people around us startled at the sudden noise which made us laugh even harder. Rosalie backed up swiftly and began to speed out of the parking lot. I joyfully joined Alice as she tried to do the 'Soulja Boy' dance while sitting in her seat. I looked out the window as we passed the last car, and just barely saw three pairs of topaz eyes, eyeing our car blankly as we zoomed past them. But I quickly forgot about it when I felt Alice almost kick me with her right foot in her attempts at the dance.

After we stopped at Starbucks for our daily afternoon caffeine, we headed over to my house. For some reason Alice and Rosalie always wanted to come to my house after school, I couldn't be sure why, but they said it was comforting and homey, whatever that meant. We spread out in my living room, switched on Oprah, and started on some homework.

"Ugh!" I groaned loudly a half hour later, flipping onto my back, "I _HATE_ math," I complained. I was sure I had been working on the same problem since we had started. Rosalie face was scrunched up and I knew she couldn't figure it out either. We had been over and over it, but math was neither of our best subject. I turned to Alice who was writing furiously.

"You figured it out?" I asked her, lifting up to glance at her paper. She hastily covered up what she was writing and backed away so she was leaning against the couch. That was unlike her, we always shared answers. "C'mon Alice," I whined. "At least give us a hint! Were dying over here!"

"Yeah, what the hell Alice," asked Rosalie glaring at her. "What is it?"

"I'm not doing _math_," she said quietly, her little hand was still pressed against the notebook paper so tightly it seemed she was straining to keep it covered. Rose and I shared a suspicious look.

"Well…" Rose demanded. "What are you writing then? And why are you hiding it?" We watched as Alice shrugged uncomfortably and fixed her face into a forced smile.

"Oh," she said lightly. "Nothing special."

She knew we wouldn't buy it, she knew us too well. After a silent moment where we stared at her warily, she sprang up suddenly and bounded toward the stairs, paper in her hand.

It took about 1.5 seconds for Rose and I to scramble up and chase after her. We caught up to her about halfway up the stairs, where I launched myself at her, trying to grab her legs. Rose however, didn't see this coming, so she ended up stepping on the side of my face in her attempts to get up the stairs.

"AH!!!" I howled, as I felt my cheek smash into the carpet. Rosalie gasped loudly, totally surprised and tried to step back, but retreating too quickly, she ended up tumbling down the rest of the staircase. She apparently had a hold on Alice's shirt because Alice followed right after her screaming.

I got up rubbing the side of my face and looked down at them, tumbled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. The crinkled paper Alice was holding lay forgotten inches from her fingers. I ran down the steps and snatched it up before she could realize it. I hopped up on the couch and cleared my throat loudly.

"NO!" Alice cried from the stairs, struggling to get up. Rosalie was sitting on her with her arms crossed, a smug look on her face. "Read it Bella!" she called.

I cleared my throat again and shot Alice a mock angry look for interrupting me. But as I looked down at the words on the paper, my jaw dropped. I scanned them over and over to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

"What does it say?" questioned Rosalie. She was wondering why I didn't read it out loud already.

"Alice…" I stuttered. "Is this a…_personal_ _ad_?!" I could hear the shameless disgust in my voice, but I didn't care.

"It's not about me!" she said defiantly. "I haven't made mine yet." I could hear more than see the pout that must be on her face. I quickly looked over the words again and my stomach dropped to my toes. _Oh God_

"Is this about me!?" I asked disbelievingly. It had to be now that I read it more carefully. I don't know how I didn't notice it the first time. I can't believe she would actually think I would be interested in something like this.

"Yes," she answered, glaring at Rose who finally got off her. "And I think it's really good." She strode over to me and grabbed the paper back, reading over her own words. Rosalie came over and stood behind me with a guarded expression.

_Blushing Beauty seeks Intellectual Gentlemen_

_Loves Reading, Music, and Cuddling_

_Hates dishonesty and prejudice_

_Looking for someone who cares about_

_The important things in life_

"_Blushing Beauty"_

I stared at the words in utter disbelief.

"Actually Bella, I think that describes you perfectly," said Rosalie, still looking at the paper. "What would you write for me?" she suddenly asked excitedly, turning to Alice.

"Oh _no_," I groaned loudly. "Not you too." But it was too late. Rosalie was ripping out another sheet of paper to hand to Alice, who took it happily and resumed her position near the couch. She put her pen up to her mouth with a thoughtful expression.

"We have to say how hott I am," piped in Rosalie seriously. "And maybe," she mused for a moment. "Hint that I have great boobs."

"What!" I cried, hopping off the couch. "You can't _hint_ that you have great boobs in a school newspaper! You can't be serious about this, guys! " But I could tell I had already lost them because it didn't appear they had even heard me.

"I've got it!" Rosalie said, turning to me with wide severe eyes. "Irresistible Blonde seeks Muscular Man!"

"Muscular Man?" I scoffed disbelievingly. "Who at our school fills that category? I think you need to seek out gangly awkward teenage lust hounds, you'll sure get a lot of responses then," I muttered sarcastically.

"You never know," said Alice, erasing something she had just written. "There might be boys we don't even notice, boys with great bodies, and boyfriend potential."

I rolled my eyes and flopped back on the couch.

After about ten minutes, Rosalie's personal ad was finished.

_Irresistible Blonde seeks Muscle Man_

_Loves Cars, Movies, and a Good sense of Humor_

_Hates being bored and unsatisfied_

_Looking for someone who can handle_

_A girl like me._

"_Irresistible Blonde"_

20 minutes later, we had Alice's:

_Material Girl seeks Sensitive Guy_

_Loves shopping, Going out, and Celebrations_

_Hates blue eye shadow and being surprised_

_Looking for someone who isn't afraid_

_To show me how he feels._

"_Material Girl"_

"This was all just for fun right?" I had actually resigned myself and helped them compose their ads, stepping in when Rosalie suggested putting "tight asses" in her loves section. I had to make sure that my two best friends in the entire world hadn't _really_ sailed over into the deep end. There was no way I would actually run that ad in the newspaper. I was positive there was no one in that school that I would be remotely interested in. I didn't want to burst their bubble, but I didn't think there was anyone worth it for girls like Rose and Alice either.

"Yeah Bella…just for fun," responded Alice with a bright smile…too bright. I knew that smile.

"Alice," I warned.

"Oh fine," she pouted, snatching up the three ads and stuffing them into her backpack carelessly. After that, not another word was mentioned about the ads. We grudgingly suffered through the rest of our math homework. Afterwards, we snuggled on the couch under a blanket and watched the rest of Oprah. Charlie returned from work about two hours later.

"Hello girls," he called before he even got into the living room. My friends were here almost every day so he knew that I wasn't alone.

"Hey Chief Swan," they both answered in unison. After some pleasantries and two boxes of pizza, I waved goodbye to my friends as they left to go home for the night. I gave Charlie a quick kiss and went upstairs to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I crawled under the covers, but realized that I was hot, and kicked them to the end of my bed. It was an unusually quiet night which made the silence a bit unnerving. After some restless tossing and turning, I finally drifted to sleep.

When I woke up, I vaguely noticed that I was shivering. I sat up, half awake, and reached blindly for my covers at the end of the bed. I curled into a ball to try and regain some of my warmth but after a few minutes, I realized that I was still really cold. I turned towards my window and noticed that it was wide open.

That was weird? I didn't think I had left my window open last night. Matter of fact, I don't think I ever opened my window. Hm. Charlie must have opened it during the night or something. He must have saw my covers and assumed I was hot. Yeah, that must be it.

I walked over to the window and stuck my head out into the black night. I couldn't see anything in the darkness, but my instincts pricked, as if warning me that something was out there. Shuddering, from both the cold and slight fear, I slammed the window down and locked it tight.

When I woke up for real, I was groggy and disoriented. It took me a while to fall back asleep last night. I got up, took a quick shower, and headed back into my room to get dressed. I usually didn't care about my wardrobe, but with Alice always giving me clothes and style tips, it was hard not to become attuned to it. I blow dried my hair, put on a pair of low rise jeans and simple fitted shirt. I grabbed my bag, a granola bar from the pantry, and headed off to wait outside for Rosalie to pick me up.

We pulled into the school parking lot and parked into the first available space we could find. Apparently I wasn't the only one who had an interrupted sleep last night. Alice told me she woke up in the middle of the night too feeling incredibly nervous. She didn't even know what was causing her to feel that way, but that was definitely what had woken her up. Rosalie admitted that she felt like she was being watched also. It was a little weird, but we were all too tired to dwell on it.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," called Alice once we walked into the school. I watched her head off in the opposite direction. Rose and I went to our lockers, then said goodbye as we separated for first period.

Most of the day went by in a blur. I was so exhausted. All I could think about was going to sleep. I was glad when the bell rang signaling it was lunch time, maybe I could sneak a quick nap in before biology. But all thoughts of that were dashed as I turned into the cafeteria. Jessica was atop her plastic chair again being swarmed by mobs of students.

"Everyone will get their box numbers!" she shrieked above the noise. "Calm down!"

Oh. People were getting their box numbers for their personal ads. I had heard snippets of conversation earlier today from two girls who had turned in their ads this morning and how everyone who signed up was going to be assigned a box number by lunchtime. I couldn't help but laugh as I realized almost everyone was waiting to get a number. Everyone besides me, Rose, and Alice I thought.

"Bella!" called a frantic Jessica. "I've got your number!"

I halted my steps.

"Excuse me?" I answered meekly.

"Your number!" she said with an annoyed tone. "Just come get it, I've got a lot to hand out." I bit my lip nervously as I made my way up to her. It was obviously a mistake, but I found I couldn't fight down the suspicion that was slowly bubbling up inside me. I reached Jessica's side and motioned for her to come down to my level.

"I didn't write one," I told her. "It must be a mistake."

"It's no mistake…'Blushing Beauty,' she whispered in my ear so no one else could hear. I balked at her. I was going to KILL Alice.

She must have misinterpreted my expression. "Don't worry, I know who everyone is, but I am going to keep everyone a secret…Here," she said, handing me a small slip of paper.

I walked away in a daze, trying to quell my nerves. I opened up the small paper. "23." I was Box 23. Why was I even a box at all! I crumpled it up in my hands and stormed across the cafeteria in search of Alice. She wasn't at our table, but I did find an excited Rose.

"Rose!" I said blackly. "Did you know about this?"

"No I really didn't think she would actually turn them in," she replied honestly. "But who cares Bella? Everyone is basically doing it; it's not a big deal. You don't even have to answer anyone if you don't want to."

I guess that was true. But still, I was mad she did it behind my back.

"Where is she now?"

"I think she went to decorate her box," answered Rose. I got up quickly, distantly hearing Rosalie following behind me. I raced passed the crowd of students, to the mini gym, where I knew they boxes were being put. Sure enough, Alice was there, draping pink ribbon around her box.

"Alice! How could you," I demanded, putting my hands on my hips. "You know I didn't want to run a personal ad?"

"Bella," she explained, as if talking to a child. "No one is going to know it's you. No one knows your nickname, or your box number. This is for your own good."

"Ugh, Alice I can't believe you," I mumbled. Before I could say another word, I felt her leap into my arms.

"Bella, I love you, you and Rose are my best friends, I just want you to be happy."

I sighed heavily and hugged her back. It was always hard to stay mad at Alice. I guess I could just ignore the whole thing, even if I did get responses back. Yeah. That's what I would do. Just wait until this whole ridiculous thing passed me by.

After I refused to have any ribbon draped around my box, we headed back into the cafeteria. It was pandemonium. Forks High had officially gotten personal ads fever. It seemed everyone had written one. As I walked pass, I could have sworn I saw Edward Cullen sneak out of the crowd, stuffing something in his pocket, but that would just be ridiculous. There is no way someone like him would do this. I was sure he had millions of girls lining up somewhere. I watched him sit back down at his table, before Mike Newton came up and blocked my line of vision.

"Hey Mike," I said halfheartedly as I whirled around and tried to catch up with Rose and Alice.

"Did you place a personal ad?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it, but I saw right through him.

"Alice placed one for me," I mumbled, deciding to admit the truth. "Behind my back." I felt the scowl cross my face.

He visibly brightened. "What's your nickname?"

I felt the confusion on my face. "I can't tell you, isn't that the whole point of this thing? To not know who you're writing to?"

He shrugged. "I'll figure it out," he said shamelessly as he walked away.

The newspapers with everyone's ads was coming out after school, so as expected, there was a huge line outside the office.

"Back up! Back up!" Jessica shouted. But once she stepped out of the door, hands flew everywhere trying to grab one. I shouldn't have been surprised when Alice crawled between someone's legs, with the newspaper between her teeth.

"Got one!" she said waving to me and Rose. "C'mon, we have to read them all!"

**So, what do you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for all my reviews and positive feedback! I'm so glad people like the story idea. Now, this chapter is dedicated to ****vjgm****, whose creative mind came up with two of the funnier personal ads in this chapter! Big thanks to her for helping me and allowing me to use them for my story! **

"_Back up! Back up!" Jessica shouted. But once she stepped out of the door, hands flew everywhere trying to grab a newspaper. I shouldn't have been surprised when Alice crawled between someone's legs, with one between her teeth. _

"_Got one!" she said waving to me and Rose. "C'mon, we have to read them all!" _

**2**

After Alice practically dragged us into my house, we all sprawled out on the floor with the newspaper in front of us. Alice and Rose were bouncing with anticipation; I on the other hand was a little aggravated and couldn't get the feeling that this was absolutely ridiculous out of my head. But I guess it would be funny to read all the personal ads and see how people described themselves.

"This is so exciting!" cried Alice, as she flipped through to the last page. I sort of felt bad for the people who actually wrote serious articles for the school paper, clearly no one would be reading them this week. "Here they are!" she sang, flattening out the page with her hand.

'Valentine's Day Personal Ads – Which one is your Soul Mate?' was plastered on the top of the page in big bright red letters. Below it were rows and rows of personal ads. I had to scoff at the word soul mate, who were they kidding? Kids were probably totally going to get their hopes up for nothing. I knew one thing for certain; I was not going to be one of them.

"OH MY GOD!" shrieked Rose, "Look at this one!" She pointed out the second paragraph on the page.

_Hometown n' Handsome seeks Unique Woman_

_Loves outdoor activities and kissable lips_

_Hates competition and not getting what I want_

_Looking for that special girl who will finally_

_Know that I am the perfect person for her._

"_Hometown n' Handsome' Box #49_

"That is SO Mike Newton talking about you Bella!" laughed Alice loudly. "GOD, could he be any more obvious!? Kissable lips!?" Her and Rose fell into a fit of laughter while I read the paragraph with disgust.

"Ugh, gross," I mumbled angrily. "When will he ever take the hint?"

"Seriously," agreed Rose once she calmed down. She ran her finger over more of the personal ads. "Here's ours!" she suddenly shouted happily, pointing to the middle of the second row. Sure enough, our three ads were smack dab in the middle. I hope ours weren't as easy to figure out as Mike Newton's had been.

"Ew! Read this one!" said Alice, starting to laugh again.

_Black Widow seeks Next Victim_

_Likes Being in Charge, and Getting Her Way_

_Hates Rules, the Word 'No' and Tightie Whities_

_Looking for someone who will_

_Put up with her crap until the end._

"_Black Widow" Box #14_

"That is SO creepy!" I said in astonishment. "What kind of people is she looking to attract with that ad? Some of the things these people were writing were incredible! We searched our minds to try and figure out who would have wrote that, but we came up empty.

"Listen to this!" howled Alice, pointing to an ad near the bottom.

_Smokin' Hot Guy seeks Fantastic Female_

_Loves Video Games, Mirrors and Computers_

_Hates Most People and Whining_

_Looking for someone who can_

_Help him look smarter._

"_Smokin' Hot Guy" Box #77_

"Video games and computers?" snarled Rosalie. "He's probably some geek from the Science Club. Alice, this was such a dumb idea, none of these people are even remotely interesting, they all sound like stalkers."

We read through most of the ads, and they seemed to be getting funnier and more terrifying all at the same time. One girl admitted that she was a neurotic clean freak that was looking for someone to carry her broom. Surprisingly, the ads that we had written seemed the most normal, if that was even possible.

"I wonder who's going to write to us," mused Alice after we had closed the newspaper. We got back on the couch to settle in and watch Oprah. Rosalie walked out of the kitchen carrying a big box of mini muffins.

"Probably everyone," she said squeezing in between us. "Our ads are definitely the best; I wouldn't be surprised if our boxes are full by the end of the day tomorrow."

I nodded in agreement and grabbed a muffin. "That's exactly what I was thinking. But there's no way I'm writing any of those people letters. I know for a fact that my _soul _mate is not walking around the halls of Forks High School."

"Me either, let those fools come to me," agreed Rosalie.

"Hey Bella, can I borrow your printer?" said Alice, leaning around Rose to catch my gaze.

"Sure, for what?" I asked calmly. But once the words left my lips, I knew exactly why she needed it. So did Rose.

"Who are you going to write to?" cried Rosalie, "None of those people sounded good enough for you Alice."

"I'm writing to everyone," she answered in a dignified tone. "I mean why not? They deserve a second chance. Just because they couldn't write a decent ad, doesn't mean that they aren't great people."

Rosalie and I shared a glance and shook our head while Alice bounded up the staircase to my computer. About half hour later, she had a stack of about 200 papers in her hand, looking quite proud of herself. She stuffed them in her backpack, and joined us on the couch. We finished watching Oprah, and when Charlie came home, we read some of the personal ads to him.

"Who do they allow at this high school?" he said disapprovingly after he read the 'Black Widow's ad. "This sounds like a serial killer could have written this."

"Or a desperate freshman," laughed Rosalie loudly.

At around 9:30 I waved goodbye to them and made my way upstairs. I grabbed the newspaper from the floor and tossed it in the trash can. I really didn't have any further use for it. I was right again; this whole idea was completely pointless.

"Hurry up Bella!" screamed Alice from the passenger seat of Rosalie's car the next morning. "I've got to deliver these notes before anyone else gets there!"

I sighed heavily, but didn't really pick up my pace. I was likely to fall if I went any faster. I jumped in next to Alice, and Rosalie sped out of my driveway.

"So you're really going to give one to each person?" I mused, looking at the folded notes in Alice's lap.

"Yup!" she smiled. "Well…all the guys that is."

We arrived at school and Alice dragged us to the mini gym right away. We were pretty early, so there weren't any responses in anyone's boxes yet. Rosalie and I helped distribute Alice's notes and we were done in about ten minutes.

"There, that's done," said Alice, wiping her hands together. "Now…we wait!"

"Oh joy" muttered Rosalie sarcastically. "This is all so exciting!"

The day ended up going by pretty fast. I couldn't concentrate in any of my classes because everyone was talking about who they wrote to, and how many responses they thought they were going to get. A lot of people had been back to check their boxes after every class, and were already scribbling notes to people that had written to them. It was madness.

I walked into lunch and sat down in my usual seat next to Alice. I looked over and saw that her purse was overflowing with letters.

"Geez Alice! Did every one of those people already write you back!?" I couldn't help but be amazed at how many letters she had.

"Not all," she said seriously. "I haven't went through these yet, and I'm going to go back and check for more after lunch, but I'm waiting for you two to get your letters first. Have you been to check?"

"No," Rosalie and I answered at the same time. But I could tell that Rosalie was looking jealously at Alice's letters, wondering how many she herself was going to get.

"Well, actually you don't really need to go. I've been checking your boxes too. I have all your responses in here," she told us happily, tapping the side of her purse.

"How many do I have?" Rosalie asked automatically, starting to dig through Alice's purse, but Alice was too fast and snatched it away.

"Were going through them together after school!" she cried. "But to answer your question, I think you've got about 6 or 7."

"That's it!" she shrieked angrily, staring at Alice as if she couldn't believe it.

"What do you mean that's it? A lot of people didn't even get any!" Alice retorted. After she said this, my first thought was that I was one of those people. I didn't care about this whole personal ads thing, but I couldn't help the slight disappointment I felt looking at all of my best friend's letters. I stared off into space for a minute, but Alice knew me too well.

"Bella, you've got about the same as Rose. But be careful because one of them is definitely from Mike Newton. He must have figured out who you are because I saw him putting a letter into your box after first period."

I made a face, but I couldn't deny my surprise that I actually had that many responses. I wonder who was that interested by my personal ad? Or if they knew it was me that they were writing to. But my train of thinking was interrupted when I felt someone slide in next to me. Mike Newton.

"So, got any responses yet Bella?" he said carefully, trying to sound indifferent. I heard Rosalie mutter something under her breath causing Alice to burst into laughter.

I tried to ignore them. "I don't know, I haven't really cared to check," I answered quickly, not wanting to make him think that I was interested in getting any letters. I was pretty sure I would be able to tell exactly which one he had written.

"Oh," he said, shoulders slumping a bit. "Well, you never know. You should check anyway."

"Maybe," I responded coolly. I wonder how he figured out who I was. For the rest of lunch, everyone at the table was immersed in conversation. I saw Angela two seats down from me, smiling as she wrote a letter. I sighed heavily. I was really getting really tired of talking about the same thing. "I'm going to class," I said getting up.

"Okay! See you after school," Alice called loudly to my retreating back. I walked out of the cafeteria and let out a deep breath as I leaned against the wall right outside. I put my hands up to my head, feeling a headache coming on. Great, just what I need.

"Are you alright?" said a velvety voice, startling me. I gasped loudly and looked up to see that it was Edward Cullen. He was standing about ten feet away from me with a concerned face.

"Um, sure," I said. "Just got a headache I guess." God he was so handsome. I hope I wasn't staring like an idiot, although I'm pretty sure I was. He didn't speak for a moment, but gave me the same frustrated face as the day before.

"Are _you_ alright?" I asked before I could stop myself. Maybe I annoyed him or something. No, he had come up to talk to me, that couldn't be it. I noticed he looked surprised for a second, but quickly composed himself.

"I'm alright," he answered shifting his feet, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem frustrated about something, you looked that way yesterday too," I added. _UGH _stupid Bella, I scolded myself. Way to make yourself look like a crazy memory psycho. He had probably forgotten all about yesterday and didn't even know what I was talking about. But his next sentence proved otherwise.

"You're very perceptive, Bella." He gave me a slight smile, but his eyes looked guarded. I could feel my signature blush creeping up my cheeks. God, how embarrassing. I quickly tried to take deep breaths and calm down. But it seemed his smile grew even brighter as he kept looking at me.

"How did you know my name was Bella?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of me.

He shrugged uncomfortably, as if he was nervous about my question. "I don't know, everyone knows I guess," was his answer. I couldn't help but think he was lying. But I decided to let it go, I definitely didn't want to spend this time with him going through an interrogation.

"I'm Edward," he added, moving a bit closer, probably only inches.

"Your new here right?" I said, gazing into his eyes. He had the most beautiful golden eyes I had ever seen. His jaw line was so strong and masculine; I couldn't help but stare at him.

"Yes, my brothers and I just moved here." He inched a little bit closer and gave me a wide smile. I let out a breath and nervously racked my brain for something to say, but nothing came to mind except word vomit.

"Well, I hope you like Forks High," I said weakly.

"I think I will," he responded after a momentary pause. The next second his brothers came out of the cafeteria and waved to him. "See you Bella," he called, turning his back to me. I gave him a slight wave.

_I hope you like Forks High_, I groaned inwardly. Could I be any lamer? God! I could feel the blush creeping back over my cheeks. But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't blame myself completely, his face was so distracting! He must think I'm such a loser. I was surprised that this made me upset. I usually didn't care what people thought about me. For the rest of the day, I tried not to think about my run in with Edward and concentrate, but it was impossible. Unsurprisingly, Alice was all too ready to distract me.

"Get in the car Bella! We've got notes to read!" she shouted, hanging out of the window. I slid in next to her and the next second we were off, headed to my house. The moment I shut the door and walked into the living room, Alice flopped on the rug and spilled a massive amount of letters out of her purse. She instantly started going through them and sorting them into three piles. Hers, Mine, and Rosalie's.

After Alice was done sorting, she immediately starting tearing through them at top speed, putting them into another three piles. Definitely not, Maybe, and Yes. As far as I could tell, the definitely not pile was the only one with any notes in them,

"Yuck!" cried out Rosalie, "Listen to this."

_Dear Irresistible Blonde,_

_I couldn't help but notice that your personal ad said that you hated being unsatisfied. Write me back and I will tell you all the different ways that I could satisfy someone like you. My name will give you a hint. ;)_

_Dynamo Swordsizzle, Box #12_

I laughed loudly as she crumpled up the note and tossed it across the room. I looked down at my pile of letters that Alice had shoved over to me. It seemed I had about seven. I took a deep breath, _What the hell._ I picked up the one that was closest to me and started to read.

_Dear Blushing Beauty,_

_I like music also, I'm actually in a band. _

Hm, not so bad I thought.

_Were called the Submissive Sacrificers, and we like to imitate Ozzy Osbourne and bite the heads off live animals on stage-_

"Eek!" I squealed, dropping the note instantly. I didn't read on, that was probably the most disturbing thing I had ever read in my entire life. Without even reading it, Alice picked it up and threw it into the definitely not pile that was slowing growing higher and higher. I reached for the second one with much more caution.

The second guy started off describing himself as a math nut, and proceeded to explain about his recent math related achievements. "I don't think so," I muttered, tossing it aside. I hated math.

I opened the third note.

_Dear Blushing Beauty,_

_Listen to me for a second while I explain who the perfect guy for you is. "A friend." Someone you see everyday but haven't really given him a chance to prove his feelings. He's definitely good looking enough for you, definitely popular enough for you, and he is wondering why you're being so unreasonably stubborn. Write me back so we can discuss me, the boy of your dreams. _

'_Hometown n' Handsome,' Box #49_

"Oh for god sake!" I mumbled, crumpling up that note as well. "You're right Alice, Mike Newton did write me." Rosalie smirked and grabbed the note from my hands. She unwrinkled it and burst out laughing as she read it out loud to herself.

Alice stuck out her tongue in revulsion and tossed the note into the definitely not pile. I warily reached for my fourth response. As I opened it up, I could barely read it because there was something smeared across the page.

"Ew is that lunch?" I cried, holding it away from me at arms length. "That is so gross! What is wrong with everyone in this school, isn't there anyone normal! Here Alice take this, before I get sick." Alice took the note from me with two fingers and ran it over to the trash can, slamming the lid.

I looked back at my three remaining notes, trying to decide if I even wanted to open them. I looked up and saw that Rosalie had walked over to the windowsill, and she was clutching a note in her hands. I decided I would ask her what she was doing once I finished opening my last three letters.

I grabbed my fifth note, this one was typed.

_Blushing Beauty, be my queen_

_Will it bother you if I'm only fourteen?_

Oh great, a freshman, I thought. No way.

The sixth note was so messy I could hardly read the handwriting, and my last one was from Dynamo Swordsizzle telling me all the different ways that he could make me blush.

"Well," I huffed, throwing away the last of my notes. "That was completely pointless, huh?" I turned to my friends, but Rosalie was still at the window, while Alice was beaming up at the ceiling, holding a note to her chest.

"Guys?" I said nervously, sitting up on my knees. "What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing's wrong Bella," said Alice softly, shaking her head in slow motion. "Everything's…._great_."

"What's so _great_?" I asked, getting annoyed. They were acting like they couldn't even hear me. When they didn't answer, I said it a bit louder. "Did you guys get a note you liked or something?" That woke them up, well at least Alice.

"Bella! He's perfect!" she squealed sitting up, clutching the note to her chest. "I've got go write him back right away!"

I looked at her in utter shock. "What? What's his name?" I stuttered.

"Sensitive Soul," she whispered intensely, falling backwards onto the couch with her eyes closed. "He's deep." She added those last words so quietly, that I wasn't even sure if I was meant to hear them. I turned to Rosalie who had a big grin on her face.

"You too?" I asked, taking in her expression.

She nodded and read her note over again. "Built for You," she mumbled quietly. "That's his name."

I didn't really know what to say. All my notes had been absolutely ridiculous, how could they be so convinced they had found someone perfect, they looked completely awestruck.

Before I could open my mouth to speak again, Alice sprang up from the couch.

"Rose, you have to take me home now. I need to write him back, and it's going to take all my concentration!" Rose nodded her head fervently, and before I could ask them any more questions, they flew out the front door, with little more than a hasty goodbye and a promise they would call me later.

I spent the next fifteen minutes picking up all the forgotten notes and throwing them away. If I were to be honest, I was a little disappointed in the outcome of the afternoon. My friends had completely left me, for some unknown perfect guys that had them falling in love over one note. I wonder what that must be like. I put all seven of my responses where they belonged, in the trash.

I spent the rest of that night doing my homework, and I ended up going to bed pretty early. I didn't really have much to do, and the whole personal ad things bothered me more than I thought it would. Also, I kept waking up recently, and it was starting to get on my nerves. The next morning as I was grabbing an apple in the kitchen, I heard the horn beeping frantically outside.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I muttered walking to the door. When I got into the car, I couldn't help but notice that Alice and Rosalie were extremely overdressed for school.

"What are you guys wearing?" I balked at them, trying to figure out their reasoning.

"We have to look good," replied Rosalie, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Those guys are walking around somewhere, who knows when we see them each day, we have to be prepared."

They chatted excitedly about 'Sensitive Soul', and 'Built For You' the entire way to school. I was a little more than happy when we pulled in and I could get out. I was sad to say I felt a little left out. Alice of course, noticed.

"Bella, why don't you go check your box," she suggested. "Today's a new day, and I've got a good feeling." She hugged me tightly, and skipped off toward the mini gym to deliver her first note back to her guys.

I was going back and forth during first period, trying to decide if I cared enough to go see if I had any new responses. After looking around the room and taking in all the happy faces, I decided I might as well go give it one last shot. Once the bell rang, I snuck off toward the mini gym, and headed to Box #23. As I approached it, it looked empty, and my heart sunk. But once I moved closer to get a better look, I saw a folded piece of blue paper. I snatched it out of the box, and ran into the nearest bathroom to lock myself in a stall. I tried to tell myself to not get my hopes up.

I slowly unfolded the letter.

_**Dearest Blushing Beauty,**_

_**I'm sorry I didn't write to you yesterday, you have to know that I wanted to, but I needed to work up my courage. I'm not really the type to write these types of things, but for you, I had to make an exception. I hope you are having a wonderful morning, and I was wondering if you would tell me more about yourself. I saw that you like reading and music? Those are two of my interests as well, especially playing the piano. What types of books do you like to read? What is your favorite type of music? Please tell me about yourself blushing beauty, for I am truly interested. **_

_**Sincerely yours,**_

_**Gentlemen, Box #99**_

I read the letter over about eight more times, and I couldn't help the involuntarily smile that took over my face.

**So, tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thank you! Thank you! For all the lovely reviews. I'm so glad you guys like this idea! I try to write back to as many reviews as I can, so if you ask me any questions, they definitely will get answered! **

I slowly unfolded the letter.

_**Dearest Blushing Beauty,**_

_**I'm sorry I didn't write to you yesterday, you have to know that I wanted to, but I needed to work up my courage. I'm not really the type to write these types of things, but for you, I had to make an exception. I hope you are having a wonderful morning, and I was wondering if you would tell me more about yourself. I saw that you like reading and music? Those are two of my interests as well, especially playing the piano. What types of books do you like to read? What is your favorite type of music? Please tell me about yourself blushing beauty, for I am truly interested. **_

_**Sincerely yours,**_

_**Gentlemen, Box #99**_

I read the letter over about eight more times, and I couldn't help the involuntarily smile that took over my face.

**3**

"_Alice_!" I whispered fervently, trying to get her attention. It was fourth period, and ever since I had received my letter, it was all I had been thinking about. I was a little embarrassed to be swept up in all this, but after that letter from Gentleman, I couldn't deny that I was intrigued. "Alice!" I whispered again, a bit louder this time.

She reluctantly looked up from her paper, writing another letter to 'Sensitive Soul' no doubt. I smiled, I really was happy that she had found someone interesting to write to. But I needed her help. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for me to continue. I stealthily passed 'Gentleman's' note over to her, so she could read it for herself. She gave me a confused expression, but unfolded the note.

Once she finished reading, she inhaled loudly and her hand flew to her mouth. She turned to me beaming. '_I told you!"_ she mouthed enthusiastically. She hurriedly reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of stationary. She handed it to me, and gave me a strict look. '_Write this one back!'_ she ordered quietly, and then turned back to her own paper.

I stared at the blank stationary in front of me. I did want to write him back, but I didn't know what to say. I was also a little more than embarrassed about my handwriting; his was so elegant that it was almost impossible. I wonder how he did that. Maybe I could ask.

_**Dear Gentleman,**_

_**I hope that you too, are having a good morning. As for what you have asked me, my favorite author would have to be Jane Austen. I have read her stories countless times, and it seems I haven't gotten bored of them yet. As for music, I love all types, but I enjoy classical as well. My mom used to listen to Debussy around the house, so she has gotten me into it. So you play the piano? That sounds wonderful, do you write your own stuff? I have to admit; I wasn't really into this personal ad thing either at first, one of my friends wrote an ad for me and turned it in behind my back. How can you get to know someone from just a paragraph? How can your soul mate really be walking around you everyday and you not notice? There is so much more to getting to know someone than just by reading their personal ad, at least in my opinion. I don't know. **_

_**Blushing Beauty, Box #23**_

_**P.s. – You've got lovely handwriting?**_

I stared down at my finished note with a wary expression. I might have gone on too long at the end there, but the bell rang signaling that my time was up. When I turned to Alice, she was kissing her paper, leaving a bright pink lipstick mark.

"Alice?" I questioned with a laugh.

She looked back at me completely unembarrassed. "He's so perfect, Bella…I'll have to let you read some of his notes at lunch."

"Some of his notes?" I asked incredulously, "You've already got more than one?"

"Of course, he writes me a new note every period."

"Wow," I answered, shaking my head back and forth.

"I'm going to deliver this now, do you want me to take yours too?" she asked, eyeing my note.

"Sure, Box #99," I whispered, handing it to her. She smiled and took the note, bouncing out of the classroom to the mini gym. I gathered up my stuff to head to my next class. I couldn't help but wonder if Gentleman was going to write me back again. He sounded nice and interesting, and pretty normal compared to the other disgusting notes I had received. As I walked through the halls, I couldn't help but look at the people's faces around me. Was he really walking these same halls as me? It was just such a weird concept.

The second I sat down for lunch that afternoon, Alice gave me a wide smile. "Someone's got another letter," she sang, holding up a blue piece of paper in front of my face. _Wow_… he wrote back already. I felt a happy blush creep up my cheeks.

"Who!" demanded Rose, eyeing my letter, and mad that she was out of the loop.

"Gentleman," said Alice proudly, but I quickly put my hand over her mouth before she said anything else out loud. "Let's go over here so we can talk about it." I directed them to a vacant table in the back of the cafeteria.

"So who's Gentleman, and why didn't you tell me about him," said Rose once we sat down. I felt bad that she looked angry.

"Because I just got his letter this morning," I told her, "Alice only knows because she is in my history class, fourth period."

"Well, I want to know about him too," she pouted.

I proceeded to tell her about his first letter. I pulled it out of my bag and let her read it. Her face lit up just as Alice's had.

"Wow!" she said, "He sounds almost as good as 'Built For You'!"

"Speaking of which," I said, turning the attention on her. "Tell me about him, did you get any more letters today?"

Rose's face went flush and broke into a smile. "Yes," she answered, "He responded to my letter this morning. He's so funny, Bella. He made me laugh out loud in my English and I almost got in trouble. But then he's really sweet at the same time, and different, and interesting, and you can just tell that he's completely hott. Definitely no one like I've ever met before."

"That's so great Rose," I replied honestly. "He sounds perfect for you."

"He is," she nodded, and then cleared her throat loudly. "And how about you?" She turned to Alice with a smirk. "How's the 'Sensitive Soul' doing today?"

Alice, excited to share all her information, told us how her and 'Sensitive Soul' had been writing back every period, because there were just so many things to talk about. She said they were getting into some really deep stuff, but fun things at the same time. She also explained that he had a wonderful sense of modern but vintage fashion, after she had asked him what type of clothes he wore.

"You asked him what type of clothes he wore?" I asked her incredulously.

"Of course," she answered. "He didn't mind. He gets me." She smiled happily.

"Well look at us," said Rosalie with a laugh. "In love with a couple of letters, it's hard not to wonder who they are ya know? Why haven't we noticed them already if they're so perfect?"

I nodded in agreement and looked around the cafeteria at all the familiar faces. Who were Gentleman, Sensitive Soul, and Built For You? There were a lot of boys in this school; maybe I just hadn't been looking close enough. The lunch bell rang, signaling it was time for 6th period. Once I got settled into my seat, I took out Gentleman's latest note.

_**Blushing Beauty,**_

_**I can't tell you how refreshing it is to talk to someone like you, I can already tell, you are different from everyone else. I like it. I agree with you about the personal ads, it's not the cleverest idea this school has come up with. But I do disagree with you about one thing. I think it is possible to walk around each day… to pass by someone special, and not know it…Anyway, you like Debussy? I enjoy them as well; I haven't met someone our age in a long time that has. You are continuing to surprise me. And Jane Austen certainly is a wonderful author. I have read Pride and Prejudice many times, but I have to say, I am a Shakespeare fan myself. And as for your question about the piano, I do write my own music, I actually started composing a new inspired piece just yesterday…But tell me more Blushing Beauty, tell me something about yourself that no one else knows…for once again without fail, you have me truly interested.**_

_**Gentleman, Box #99**_

_**P.s. I've had a lot of time to practice my handwriting.**_

I read the note over and over again for the remainder of the class period. He seemed too good to be true. Everything he said was just so…ugh, I didn't even have the right word for it. I wished Alice was in the room with me so I could have another piece of her stationary; I didn't want to write him back on a messy torn out piece of notebook paper. I would just have to write him back after school.

I met up with Alice and Rose in the parking lot. They were wearing identical smiles that I knew matched the one I had on my face. I had to laugh out loud and they quickly joined in as we piled into the car. Rose and Alice had a note to write too, so we were going to head back to my house and get started right away.

As usual, Alice found a suitable song and turned the volume dial up the highest it would go. Rose rolled down the windows automatically, backed out of the parking space, and headed toward the entrance. We sang along happily, each of us in high spirits. Rose turned to face us, mouthing the words to the song in a ridiculously dramatic fashion. Laughing, I turned back to look out the front window, and my stomach dropped.

"ROSE! LOOK OUT!" I screamed wildly. We were heading straight toward the side of a black car pulling slowly out of its parking spot. She shrieked, and tried to brake…but it was too late. We slammed loudly into the side of the car, effectively denting in the whole right side. Alice and I flew forward with a rough jolt, almost hitting the windshield, but we were stopped by an airbag that exploded in front of our faces.

"FUCK!" screamed Rosalie. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" She pounded her hands against the airbag, trying to get it out of her way.

Alice and I sat in silence, trying to catch our breath. I could feel my heartbeat pounding wildly in my chest. Before any of us even made any attempt to get out of the car, we heard a knock on the window.

"Are you guys okay!?" said an extremely anxious voice. I turned to my right and saw Emmett Cullen, with Edward and Jasper right behind him, looking just as frantic. Emmett was staring at Rose with a nervous expression.

"Oh GREAT," mumbled Rose angrily, once she saw who it was. I knew that she was hoping it would be someone she could easily deal with, not the unfriendly new boys. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. Alice and I followed suit.

"I am _SO_ _sorry_," we heard her plead. I walked around the hood of the car to join them. "I can fix it," she begged. "Honestly, I'm really so sorry, it was stupid of me to not be paying attention."

But the boys didn't seem to really care about the car. It almost felt like they were inspecting us for injuries. "Are you hurt, Bella?" said a concerned voice. It was Edward. To my complete shock, he pulled me into a tight but brief hug. My eyes widened when I felt his arms around me, and I had to will my own arms to respond. He smelled incredible; I couldn't help but take a deep breath. All too soon and pulled back, but he didn't look away.

I tried not to melt under the heady mix of his touch and intense gaze.

"I'm alright, just a little shaken I guess." I replied, looking at him closely. It was odd to see how nervous he was. How could they be not mad at all? The whole side of their car was completely pushed in. I turned back to reassess the damage and my mouth dropped open when I saw what type of car it was. I couldn't help but cringe, thinking about the expenses.

Rose did so at the same time and groaned loudly. "I am so unbelievably sorry," she began sadly, tears filling up her eyes. "Can you at least allow me to fix it? My dad's a mechanic, and I've grown up learning how to fix cars, please it's the least I could do."

To my surprise, Emmett put his large hand tenderly up to her cheek, wiped away a stray tear, and gave her a big smile. "We're just glad you guys are okay, the car doesn't matter" he said softly. "And sure, if fixing it will make you feel better, than be our guest." Rose nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. I turned around to see Alice leaning on the hood of Rosalie's car with her wrist in Jasper's hand. She had tears running down her face as well.

"She's broken her wrist," Jasper said softly, gently holding Alice's skinny arm. "I'm going to take her to Carlisle." Edward and Emmett nodded. Edward then turned back to me with worried eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright Bella? Can I do anything for you?" Edward asked again, looking even more concerned after he saw that Alice was hurt.

"No, really, thanks but I'm fine…can't really say the same about your car though," I frowned.

He waved his hand dismissively and didn't even glance back at the car. I wasn't even sure if any of them had seen the damage yet. Maybe that was it; maybe they weren't aware of how bad it actually was. It was possible they would completely flip out once they got a good look. Rose went around the front to examine her own car's damage, which was surprisingly minimal.

After a few minutes, we piled back into the car, agreeing to follow them back to their house, so Rose could attempt to fix the dents, and Alice could get her wrist looked at, by Carlisle, who I assumed was their father.

Once Alice got back into the car, I kissed her wrist and gave her a worried smile. She didn't look that unhappy though, she looked a little flushed.

"God, can you believe it? Out of all the worthless cars in Forks, I have to hit a _VANQUISH_, the only car that cost more than my life," ranted Rosalie as we pulled out of the parking lot. I had to admit it was pretty bad luck.

"Yeah, but… they're being pretty decent about it. Don't you think?" I told her, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah," she muttered. "At least there's that. And luckily I know how to fix cars, I should have it fixed pretty quickly…But now we have to wait until later to write our letters," she pouted.

Oh yeah…my letter. I had almost forgotten. I felt a wave of happiness come over me as I remembered Gentleman and the last letter he had written me. I secretly hoped that I would have enough time later as well. I kept my mind on him as we followed the Cullen boys into a long driveway, surrounded by trees.

"Wow," said Alice taking in her surroundings. It was the first word she had spoken since we got into the car. She seemed distracted, must be by her wrist.

We stopped in front of a large white house, and before I could even take off my seatbelt, Jasper appeared and immediately ushered Alice out of the car and into his home to see his father. Rosalie took a deep breath, stepped out, and walked with Emmett around the house and into the garage where they had parked the Vanquish. Feeling quite alone, I decided to kick back, and maybe begin my response to Gentleman. I pushed my seat back as far as it would go and crossed my feet up on the dashboard. I reached into Alice's purse for a piece of stationary, pulled out my science book to lean on, and began to write.

_**Dear Gentleman**_

But that was as far as I got before I heard a loud knock on the window. Edward was waiting outside on the driver's side, and when I looked up he gave me a smile. I smiled back, and motioned for him to come in. He opened the door and took the seat next to me.

"You've got a nice house," I said, looking out the windshield to admire it.

"Thank you," he responded kindly. "What are you writing?" he asked, after a moment. But surprisingly, he didn't try to peer at my paper, he just looked at me. I hid it against my chest anyway.

"Oh, nothing. Just some homework," I lied. There was no way I would tell him what I was really writing, he would probably think I was desperate and pathetic. I knew I had probably imagined him getting a box number that day. Looking at him now, there was no way he didn't already have millions of dates.

"Well, I've got some homework to do too, do you mind if I borrow a piece of paper?"

"Sure," I replied, glad that he had believed my lie. I reached into Alice's purse and pulled out another piece of the stationary to give to him.

He took the paper from my hands with a beautiful crooked grin on his face.

"What?" I asked jokingly, trying to figure out why he was smiling.

"Nothing," he answered, trying very hard to suppress his expression. "This is just nice paper, that's all."

"Oh, okay," I laughed, giving him a weird look.

But after that, I couldn't really concentrate on writing the letter. With a sigh, I put it into my backpack, deciding that I would finish it when I got home. I turned to Edward, who wasn't really writing either, and decided to ask about his move to Forks. He told me that his family moved a lot, and that he had been to a lot of high schools. He seemed surprised that I had actually asked him that question, but I was sure that he could tell I was interested. After about a half an hour, Rose came back around the house, covered in grease. Edward and I got out of the car.

"She's amazing!" I heard Emmett say. "Best mechanic I've ever seen." He was grinning madly at Rose.

"I'm just so glad it was easy to fix," she replied. "It still needs a paint job, but that's it."

The next second, Alice and Jasper came back out of the house, immersed in happy conversation. I smiled when I saw the pink cast on her wrist. Today could have turned out a lot worse I thought, considering the accident and everything. After we said our goodbyes, and Rosalie apologized once again, we got back into the BMW and headed back to my house.

"Phew!" said Rosalie, once we turned onto the main road. "I'm not going to have to pay for anything. I got really lucky."

"Yeah, those boys really aren't so bad," I mused thoughtfully. "They seemed nice enough; I wonder why they keep to themselves."

"Who knows," said Rosalie. "They certainly are good looking though, huh?"

I laughed at her understatement.

"Can we go write our letters now?" piped in Alice, suddenly very excited.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I tried to write mine in the car, but I couldn't concentrate. Gentleman wrote me a really nice one this afternoon; I want to make sure I write a good one back."

Rosalie nodded her head. "Definitely letter time. I want to tell 'Built For You' all about my little accident today. I don't think anyone else saw it, so if I tell him it won't give me away."

We arrived back at my house around twenty minutes later. Alice said she needed to use the phone before she wrote hers, so she ran upstairs to my bedroom. Rosalie spread out on the couch, and I snuggled up into Charlie's arm chair.

_**Dear Gentleman,**_

_**I like talking to you too. It **_**is**_** refreshing to talk about things that are important and meaningful, rather than the frivolous things people our age like to stress about. And Shakespeare? Wow, I'm impressed. What works have you read by him so far? What's your favorite? And if I continue to interest you, you definitely continue to impress me. Writing your own music? That really is an accomplishment. I wish I could hear some of the things you have written, but then again, I don't even know who you are. ). **_

_**So what do you want to know about me? Let's see what I can share without giving myself away. I don't really have a set favorite color; it usually depends on my mood. My favorite candy is chocolate kisses and dogs of every kind, I wish I had one. My parents are divorced. My mom got remarried when I was living with her down in Florida. I could tell that in a sense I was holding her back and I wanted to give her some privacy and a chance for her to be happy with him. So that's when I decided to move here about five years ago, with my dad. But I love it now; I've got some great friends. **_

_**Blushing Beauty, Box #23**_

_**P.s. – I still disagree, if my soul mate was walking around Forks High. I would know.**_

I smiled down happily at my letter. I thought it came out pretty okay. I looked up to see Rosalie stuffing her newest response into an envelope. I did the same, and when we were finished, we looked at each other and burst into laughter at our own giddiness.

"Alice not done yet?" I asked, looking up toward the stairs.

"I guess not," said Rosalie, going to turn on the TV. You know Alice; she always has a lot to say."

I nodded and rested my head on Rosalie's shoulder as we caught the end of Oprah. We had missed most of it since we got held up at the Cullen's this afternoon. Alice came down a little later with a big smile on her face.

"Where's your letter?" I asked, noticing her hands were empty.

"Oh, I already put it in my purse," she answered quickly, snuggling in beside me. I looked at her cast and saw that Jasper had signed it, alongside a little wink face.

I laughed at it and ran over the marker with my fingers. "Looks like 'Sensitive Soul' has a little competition huh?" I joked happily. Rosalie laughed from my other side.

"No… Sensitive Soul definitely doesn't have any competition," she responded, but then ended up laughing along with us. Afterwards, we all sat in a comfortable silence to finish the rest of Oprah. That night, once they left, I read over my letter that I written again. I couldn't wait to send it to him. I fell asleep that night, wondering who he could possibly be.

I woke up early the next morning. I think for the first time in a while, I was a little excited to go to school. I decided to be honest with myself and admit that it was because of Gentleman and his letters. I really was just as wrapped up in this thing as Alice and Rosalie were.

I took my time getting ready, trying to find the perfect outfit. I settled on a white sundress that Rosalie had bought me about two months ago. I curled my hair a bit and went down to get breakfast.

I met Charlie downstairs on a rush to get to work.

"Good morning Bells," he said quickly, taking a sip of his coffee and putting the empty mug in the sink.

"Morning Dad," I responded, watching him rush toward the door. "Hey dad, wait," I said suddenly remembering something.

"Yeah?" he paused, looking anxious.

"Can you not open my window anymore? It gets way too cold in there, and it wakes me up," Thinking that would be the end of the conversation, I turned my back to him to grab some fruit from the counter.

"I haven't touched your window Isabella?" I heard him say. "Have a great day!" And with that he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! ) I'm so glad everyone likes this idea! Here is the next chapter! There have been so many people questioning who is aware of who they're writing to...I'll let the story speak for itself, besides the few people I have already told! What do you think? Who knows who they're writing to?**

"_Morning Dad," I responded, watching him rush toward the door. "Hey dad, wait," I said suddenly remembering something._

"_Yeah?" he paused, looking anxious._

"_Can you not open my window anymore? It gets way too cold in there, and it wakes me up," Thinking that would be the end of the conversation, I turned my back to him to grab some fruit from the counter._

"_I haven't touched your window Isabella?" I heard him say. "Have a great day!" And with that he was gone._

**4**

After Charlie left, I didn't think much of his statement about my window. He really must have just forgotten. Sometimes I did catch him sleepwalking. One time, he woke me up at 3:00 in the morning just to give me a glass of water.

"Dad, I didn't ask for a glass of water, what are you doing, it's the middle of the night?"

"Oh sorry," he mumbled in apology. And then ten minutes later he brought me up a loaf of bread. Needless to say, him forgetting about opening my window was definitely possible.

I sat at the kitchen table, munching an apple until I heard Rosalie's horn outside. I grabbed my bag, checked that I had my letter, and bounced out the door, looking forward to the day ahead. Plus, it was Friday, so we could do something fun tonight! I hopped in the car, and we were off.

We pulled into the school parking lot, much more carefully this time in order to avoid a repeat of yesterday. I don't think I had ever seen Rose drive so cautiously.

We parked towards the front, and made our way into the mini gym to distribute our letters. It was packed. There were so many people in there that I could barely move. Was he in here right now?, I thought as boys were passing me left and right. Some were familiar faces but there were some I had never really paid attention to. That's all that was running through my mind as I quickly dropped in his letter, and then made a bee line for the exit.

I fidgeted all throughout my next class. I couldn't help but wonder if he had already gotten my note. I knew it was a bit silly, but he could have read it and written back in one period right? I forced myself to wait one more class until I went back and checked.

As I headed into the mini gym for the second time that day, I noticed there was something odd in my box. I gasped loudly once I got a closer look. I slowly reached inside and pulled out a large bag of chocolate kisses. I let out a huff of shocked laughter as I stared at the bag of candy. I remembered telling Gentleman in my last note that they were my favorite, but that was only two periods ago! How did he get a bag of these so fast? I quickly put the candy in my backpack, grabbed the note that was attached to it, and made my way to my next class, grinning madly.

Once I sat down, I pulled out the candy and unfolded my letter.

_**Blushing Beauty,**_

_**I hope this was the candy you were talking about. I have to be honest and admit that I have been thinking about you non stop. There is something about you, from your letters of course, that I really like. I want to get to know more about you, everything I can. Just answer me one question, what do you look for in a man?**_

_**Waiting anxiously for your next letter,**_

_**Gentleman, Box #99**_

My stomach was fluttering with butterflies at the word man. What should I say? What type of _man_ did I like? I didn't even know myself. I mean, I had never had a boyfriend before. I don't think I had ever even seriously liked anyone. I decided I would give myself until the end of the day to come up with a response. Hopefully Rose and Alice would be able to help me during lunch.

So once the lunch bell rang, I raced out the room and into the cafeteria. I plopped down at my usual table, only to see Rose already writing her own note, a huge smile on her face.

"How's 'Built For You' today?" I asked her, leaning over to look at her letter.

She sighed happily. "Perfect, I think he is going to ask to meet me soon!"

"Really? Are you going to?" Meeting Gentleman hadn't even crossed my mind yet.

"Of course!" she said, sounding surprised that I had even asked. "I mean, he better ask me to the Valentines Dance next week, 'Sensitive Soul' asked Alice this morning."

"He did?" I balked at her. All the sudden I got really nervous. Was Gentleman going to ask me to the dance? Did I even want to go? Would he be disappointed when he found out it was me?

My train of thought was interrupted when Alice plopped down into the seat next to me.

"Good afternoon!" she sang, taking a big bite of her pizza. Her smile didn't fade even as she was chewing.

I cleared my throat loudly, signaling to her that she better tell me about the dance. She knew what I meant right away.

"Yes, he did ask me to the dance," she said in a dragged out voice, even though I knew she was giddy with excitement.

"Wow," I said slowly. I had a million questions for her, but unfortunately I was interrupted.

"Hey Bella," said Mike, without failing to once again squeeze himself in next to me. I tried to hide the grimace on my face.

"What's up Mike," I replied, reaching into my bag to pull out my candy.

"Oh! Chocolate!" cried Alice, snatching one away from me. "Did Gentleman get you these?" she asked as she unwrapped one.

"Yes?" I said suspiciously, "How did you know?"

She held up a finger while she finished eating the chocolate. "Well," she swallowed, "I know you didn't come to school with any."

"Who's Gentleman?" asked Mike, giving me a hard stare.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, popping a chocolate into my mouth. At least I didn't lie; I really had no idea who he was. He continued to stare at me…it was getting weird.

_CHECK! CHECK ONE TWO, CHECK ONE TWO_

I turned to see Jessica Stanley, once again bellowing into the microphone at the front of the cafeteria. She looked upset. _Oh God_, I thought. What is her problem now?

"Can I have EVERYONE'S attention," she said in a snide voice. "The young man who is under the alias, Dynamo Swordsizzle, and you KNOW who you are!" she leered, looking around the cafeteria. "The newspaper staff has gotten numerous complaints about you leaving condoms and KY jelly in people's boxes! If this continues, we will have to take serious action!"

"Wait a minute!" cried Mike from next to me, standing up with his two hands flat on the table. "Dynamo Swordsizzle is a DUDE?!" He looked completely scandalized.

"YES!" Jessica seethed, glaring at Mike. She jumped off the plastic chair and ran out of the cafeteria. Mike stood there for a moment, shaking his head violently as if he was trying to forget something. I decided I didn't want to know. After a moment, he still looked a little disgusted, but otherwise unphased.

"So," he said, sitting back down. "You girls coming to the drive in tonight?"

Oh yeah, I had forgotten that the drive in was tonight. About twice a year, Forks high would shut down the football field and set up a mock drive in theatre for the students. The movies they played were usually pretty lame, but everyone just came to socialize and drink anyways.

"Yeah we're going," Alice answered for us. "Hey Mike, would you be able to pick us up?"

"Sure," Mike responded with a shiteating grin on his face. Rosalie and I shot her a dark look. "What time?"

"7 at Bella's house," replied Alice, taking another bite of her pizza.

"Great! See you then." I didn't watch as he got up from the table because I was too busy glaring at Alice.

"Damnit Alice!" snapped Rosalie, "I don't want to go with him! What did you do that for?"

Alice sighed and rolled her eyes as if we were missing the point. She leaned in closer and motioned for us to do the same.

"If Mike drives…we can drink!" she whispered happily. Rosalie looked confused for a moment, but then broke out into a wide smile.

"Oh oh oh, you are clever!" she sang, giving Alice a high five.

A few minutes later lunch was over, and I had forgotten to get their advice about my letter. "On my own with this one," I grumbled, pulling out a piece of paper once I sat down in my 6th period class.

_**Dear Gentleman,**_

_**Wow, how did you get that candy so fast? I couldn't believe it. But thank you, they are definitely my favorite. )**_

_**I've been thinking a lot about you too. I find myself wondering more and more about who you are each day…But as for what types of guy I like, I'm not sure. All day today I've tried to come up with the perfect answer, but in my case there isn't one. All that matters to me, is that there is a connection, and it matters who a person is, not what they look like or where they come from. I guess that's the best answer I can give you. **_

_**Blushing Beauty, Box #23**_

"Alice, I am not wearing that!" I crossed my arms tightly, daring her to fight me on it.

"But Bella! It looks so good on you, and besides, don't you want to look good for Gentleman?"

_Damn_, she had me.

It was about 6:30, and the girls were at my house getting ready for the drive in movie. Gentleman had left yet another note in my box with only a single cryptic sentence.

_**I hope you'll be at the movie tonight.**_

So basically we were both going, which was enough to make me want to crawl in a hole and never come out. Which was silly because it's not like we even knew who each other were.

"Please Bella," Alice begged with her infamous pout face, "Your butt looks perfect in it!"

"She's telling the truth," agreed Rosalie, who was pulling on a dark denim skirt. She of course, looked fabulous.

"Oh fine!" I huffed, reaching for the hem of my shirt to pull it off. I tossed it on the floor and grabbed the navy blue dress from Alice, who was squealing with delight.

"He is going to flip when he sees you in that!" she told me happily.

"Alice," I pulled the dress over my head. "He doesn't even know who I am."

"Of course he doesn't," she answered, but then turned around to bend over into her bag to get her own outfit.

Half hour later we were curled, high heeled, and ready to go. I had to admit that I was glad Alice had made me wear this dress; even I had to admit that I looked hott. We clacked down the stairs loudly, disturbing Charlie who was sitting on the sofa.

He blew out a long whistle. "Well don't you girls look nice," he complimented, giving me a big smile.

"Thanks dad, is Mike here yet?" But once the words left my mouth, I heard an obnoxiously long beep come from the driveway. "I guess so," I mumbled. We all gave Charlie a swift kiss and headed out the door.

Once we walked outside, I could already tell there were about 5 other people in the car. I went straight for the back but Mike rolled down his window and informed me that he saved me the front seat. I grudgingly opened the passenger door and hopped in.

"Hey Bella," he smiled. "You look hott."

"Thanks," I said, a bit uncomfortably. I moved toward the edge of my seat and fixed my gaze out the window. Rosalie and Alice squished into the back and we pulled out of the driveway. The car was noisy with everyone talking and I suddenly couldn't wait until we got there so I could get out.

"Hey Tyler," called Mike, twisting around for a moment. "Get me that bag will ya?" I heard Tyler rummaging for a moment and then saw him holding out a brown paper bag.

"Take it Bella," said Mike with a smirk. I reluctantly grabbed the bag and put it onto my lap. I pulled out a large bottle of Smirnoff, and eyed it curiously.

"It's yours," Mike said. "I got it for you, tell me that's not better than some old bag of candy?" I tried not to roll my eyes, and ignored the sarcastic comment that bubbled to my lips.

"Open it," called Rosalie, leaning up toward my seat. I twisted the cap and took a whiff, cringing back when it stung my nose.

"You first," said Mike.

God he was really annoying. I put the bottle to my mouth and took a large shot. This car ride would be much easier if I was a little drunk, I justified to myself. As expected, the shot burned my throat the entire way down. I wiped my mouth on the back of my sleeve and passed it back to Rose. By the time we got to the school, I had probably taken about 4 shots. I was feeling pretty good. We drove onto the field, and ended up parking pretty close to the screen. The movie of the night was Titanic. The teachers always tried to pick movies that we would think were "cool", ignoring the fact that they had already been out for several years.

Once the car came to a full stop, everyone got out and began to pull out chairs from the trunk. Mike, who didn't drink at all during the ride, snatched the bottle from me and took a ridiculously large sip. I quickly went around the back of the car to find Rose and Alice.

I tried to set up my chairs in between the two of them, but somehow I ended up sitting right next to Mike. Feeling that it would be really obvious if I tried to move my seat, I decided to stick it out…well, after I took another shot. Alice was on my other side, giggling hysterically.

"What's so funny?" I asked, whispering because the movie had just started.

"I can't tell you," she said, still chortling. "It's a secret." She picked up a beer that she got from who knows where, and started to chug it. Normally, I probably would have pressed her for information, but the alcohol was impairing my judgment, and all I could do was laugh along with her. When I turned back, I noticed that Mike had scooted his chair even closer to mine. I dealt with it for about half hour, but as soon as he tried to put his arm around me, I reached my limit.

I got up, told everyone I was getting a snack, and headed toward the back of the field. I looked around at all that cars, _Gentleman was here somewhere_. The thought made me nervously excited. I tried not to stare at everyone too hard as I passed them. The cars were getting closer together and I had to squeeze myself between a silver car and a red car.

"Hey Bella," said a soft voice. My head jerked up instantly. Edward was leaning back casually on the top of his car next to Emmett and Jasper.

"Oh, hey guys, what's up? Enjoying the movie?" I said with a smile. The three of them looked like movie stars about to start filming on a set. I still wasn't used to their good looks because they still seemed to effect me every time I saw them. Even though I was squinting, I could see their pale skin clearly in the darkness.

Edward shrugged his answer to my question. He seemed a little upset. There always was something troubling that boy. "Are you?" he finally said, not meeting my eyes.

"Not particularly," I replied, thinking of Mike. I really didn't want to go back and sit with him. Maybe, I could just hide at the snack bar all night.

"Want to come up here?" asked Edward, as if he could tell what I was thinking. "We've got a great view."

I paused for a moment, but then decided that I did want to.

"Sure," I smiled, "You're doing me a favor you know."

I watched as his face brightened at something I had said, and before I could attempt to climb up, he knelt down and put out his arms. "Come here."

I walked over, wondering what he was going to do. But once I got close enough, he picked me up effortlessly and sat me gently next to him. It all happened within three seconds, and the fast movement left me a little dazed.

"Wow," I said a little breathlessly. Jasper and Emmett laughed loudly at my statement.

"Where are your friends?" asked Emmett, staring at the movie screen.

"Up at the front," I said, pointing towards Mike's car with a scowl. "Everyone's drinking and stuff, it's a little crazy. Thanks for letting me sit here Edward."

"My pleasure," he answered, nudging my shoulder with his, making me laugh. Edward was really a nice guy; maybe I could ask him why he was so quiet in school. But before I could open my mouth, a group of girls walked by, one of them crying.

"He sounded so perfect in his letters," she wailed to her friend. I tried to listen to the rest of their conversation, but they had walked too far away from the car. My heart sunk at hearing those words. She must have just met someone through her personal ads. I immediately thought of Gentleman… was he nothing like his letters? Was he some creep and I didn't even know it? I began to scan the crowd, looking at all the faces.

"Looking for someone?" asked Edward quietly, his breath tickling my ear.

"No," I lied quickly. I felt the blush creeping up my cheeks. I was thankful it was dark so that he couldn't see it.

"Bella!" I heard someone shout frantically. It was Rosalie. "Bella, where did you go?"

"I'm up here!" I shouted, searching the crowd of people for her face. She suddenly appeared a little out of breath. Apparently she had been running.

"Thanks for leaving me back there," she accused. "Mike is puking everywhere, Alice is completely wasted, and all the boys are being assholes." She crossed her arms and glared at me.

"What?" I said shocked, scooting down the windshield. "When did all this happen? Where is Alice now?"

"Still back there, that's why I came to find you; I need you to help me take her home."

"Where is she," said Jasper immediately, jumping off the car. "I'll help you." Emmett followed suit, and once Edward jumped down, made our way back to Mike's car. Sure enough, Alice was dancing around wildly with a beer in her hand.

Jasper walked up to her right away, grabbed her waist gently and took the beer away. Once she saw his face, she visibly brightened and jumped into his arms.

"Jasper!" she cried, holding him tightly. Rose and I shared a confused look at their comfortable embrace. I guess Alice was really affectionate when she was drunk.

"I'll be right back," Jasper told us, leading her away into the crowd.

A retching noise directed our attention to the side of the car. Mike had his hands on his knees, loudly emptying his stomach.

"Oh great," Rosalie mumbled. "There goes our ride."

"We'll take you home," Emmett said to her with a warm smile. We fell into conversation on the way back to their car. Rosalie looked more pleased than she had all evening. I pulled her back for a moment to whisper in her ear.

"Any sign of Built For You?" I asked.

"No," she sighed. "Gentleman?"

"Nope," I shook my head. "I don't know what we were expecting; it's not like they know who we are."

"True," she replied. "But this is fun anyway," she said motioning to Edward and Emmett. I smiled in response. The two boys were much better company than our normal friends.

"Don't worry," said Rosalie pulling me into a hug. "We'll write them nice letters tomorrow morning. Besides, only one more week until the dance."

"They have to ask us first," I mumbled to myself, falling back into step with Edward. He smiled down at me and held open the passenger side door so I could get in. Rose sat with Emmett in the back, leaving room for Alice and Jasper who had disappeared. We weaved our way through the cars and off the field. I distantly saw Alice and Jasper sitting on the curb in the parking lot. They were laughing hysterically and completely oblivious to us until we pulled up the car right in front of them.

Jasper nodded to Edward and then reached down to scoop up Alice, who seemed much calmer than fifteen minutes ago. Once they were in, Edward sped out of the parking lot.

We made it home in about 10 minutes. I noticed about halfway there that I hadn't given him any directions.

"How do you know where you're going?" I asked curiously.

I saw him visibly stiffen, but then compose himself. "Your father is friends with my dad," he replied. "Besides, everyone knows where Chief Swan lives."

"Oh," I said shortly, as my house came into view.

"Thanks for saving us," said Rosalie from the backseat. "We owe you once again."

"Yeah," I agreed, turning to Edward. "You probably think the three of us just attract trouble."

"Something like that," he said softly, his eyes boring into mine. My heartbeat sped up, the atmosphere was really tense all the sudden.

"Bye! Thanks again," I shouted, wanting to escape the intensity of his gaze. I gave him another smile and hopped out of the car. I waited on the pavement till Rose and Alice got out a moment later. We waved to them as they drove out of sight.

Alice was giggling madly, and Rose and I carried her on our shoulders into the house. I didn't want to wake Charlie, so I tried to move her as fast as possible. Luckily she seemed to understand that as well, so her laughing quieted once I opened the door. We got her up the stairs, and I dropped her onto my bed. Rose got a blanket from my closet and draped it over her.

"What is with her?" I whispered. "She has been acting strange lately, don't you think?"

"Definitely," said Rose.

But before we could ask her, her tiny snores filled the silence of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

_Alice was giggling madly, and Rose and I carried her on our shoulders into the house. I didn't want to wake Charlie, so I tried to move her as fast as possible. Luckily she seemed to understand that as well, so her laughing quieted once I opened the door. We got her up the stairs, and I dropped her onto my bed. Rose got a blanket from my closet and draped it over her._

"_What is with her?" I whispered. "She has been acting strange lately, don't you think?"_

"_Definitely," said Rose._

_But before we could ask her, her tiny snores filled the silence of the room._

5

"Wake up!" called a cheery voice from beside me. I groaned loudly, and rolled over. I didn't have to look at a clock to know that it was way too early to be getting up. But I knew better than to think that voice would go away.

"Girls!" said the voice, bright as ever. "We have a lot to do today now get up!" I felt two small hands start rocking me back and forth.

I reluctantly pulled the pillow off my face, and through heavy lids I glared at Alice. But Rose, who was down by our feet, found her voice before I did.

"Well aren't you the little ball of enthusiasm," she said blackly, not looking up from her pillow. "I would have thought after last night, you would want to sleep in a little bit."

Alice waved her hand as if last night was a distant memory she didn't have time to recall at the moment. "It's not that early, it's already 9:00, and we have to go shopping for the dance."

That caught my attention. I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face.

"Alice, Rose and I haven't even been asked yet. I'm not going to waste my money on some dress that I might not even need."

"Of course they're going to ask," she insisted, pulling the pillow out from under Rose's head. "Everyone is asking their personal response pen pal. I'm sure Gentleman and Built For You will ask next week."

"Well let's go in another two hours," said a sleepy Rose. Now that she didn't have a pillow, she was resting against my legs.

"Guyssss," pouted Alice, "Please! What am I going to do for two hours, watch you guys sleep?"

I stared back at her for a second and let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh fine," I moaned, flopping back on to my pillow. I got out from under the covers and sleepily walked to my closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and black sweater. I didn't exactly want to dress up to go shopping.

"Traitor," said Rose, who was still lying flat on my bed.

After about 20 minutes, we were all set and ready to go. We hopped into Rosalie's car and headed to Port Angeles. I still thought this idea was stupid. I didn't even have a date. But I knew I agreed to go because a small part of me was hoping he would ask. Just so I could meet him. I would deal with the dancing problem later.

On the way, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for coffees and bagels. Alice was bouncing with excitement, talking about a silver dress that she had seen online that would be perfect for me. We pulled up to Saks and after Rosalie parked the car, made our way into the store.

Alice ran around all the different racks happily, piling clothes onto her arm. Rosalie, who was much more selective, only had about two or three. I didn't have any. If I was honest, I knew Alice would pick me out something nice. And of course, without fail, she led us into the dressing room fifteen minutes later with many different selections to try on.

"Is it really this formal?" I called from inside my dressing room as I eyed a long gown with distaste.

"Yeah," said Rosalie from across the aisle. "I think we have to get real dressed up for this one." I groaned softly and sorted through the ten or twelve dresses that Alice had given me. I pulled a black and gold one from the middle. I instantly liked it, and decided to try it on. The dress was black, but had a gold band going around the middle and up into the sleeves. It was tight fitting and hit around knee length. I zipped it up from the side and admired myself in the mirror.

I pulled the curtain across and walked into the aisle.

Alice was already studying herself in the three mirrors by the end. She had on a sparkly gold dress that hit just above the knees. She looked hott.

"Wow Alice," I said "That dress is perfect!" She spun around with a big smile and gasped when she saw me.

"Bella!" she exclaimed, "You have to get that dress!" I looked down self consciously as a blush rose up my cheeks.

Rose came out last in a short red strapless dress that had a band around the middle. My mouth dropped open, as did Alice's. Rosalie never failed to stun.

"You guys look amazing," she said walking over to us. "I'm getting this one, and you guys better get those," she said as she appraised us. We all turned and looked in the mirror at the same time.

"Perfect," Alice said. "Let's get them."

After picking out shoes and clutches, we headed into the car to go home. It was Saturday so I was looking forward to relaxing. Rose and Alice had the same idea, so we spent the rest of the day cuddled on the couch, ordering take out, and watching movies. All too soon, Sunday rolled around and I woke up, knowing that I had to catch up on my homework. But being the procrastinator that I am, I decided to respond to Gentleman's latest letter first. That one line note he sent me about the movie had me so frazzled, that I almost forgot about his response to the one I sent him that day.

_**Blushing Beauty,**_

_**I have to admit that I was surprised with your answer at what type of men you like. Your beautiful response caught me off guard in a very good way. It makes me happy to hear you feel those things. **_

_**As for me, I admit that I never cared much for pursuing a woman, no matter what they looked like. No one has ever captured my attention because I've never met anyone that was right for me…up until recently that is. **_

_**Gentleman, Box #99**_

_**P.s – Although if I'm honest, I have to tell you, that I do have a thing for brunettes.**_

I smiled at his last sentence. At least I had one thing going for me, whoever he was. I pulled out a paper from my drawer to write him back.

_**Gentleman,**_

_**I hope your having a good weekend. I did end up going to the drive in on Friday, unfortunately things got a little out of control and I had to leave early. I guess you could say that I was looking for you there, but then again, I didn't know what to look for. I wish I knew who you were. I always wonder if I'm passing you in the halls everyday and looking you right in the face and have no idea that it's you. I would like to meet sometime, that is if you want to. **_

_**Blushing Beauty, Box #23**_

I signed the note, read it over once again, hoping I didn't sound desperate. Now that I had my dress, I was kind of hoping he would ask me. I would never come out and say it though, so it was going to have to be his decision.

I went to bed that night, making sure to shut my window. I crawled under the covers and drifted into a deep sleep, filled with dreams of mysterious men and chocolate candy.

We arrived at school early the next morning. With our newest notes in hand, we made our way into the mini gym, which was packed as always.

I dropped in my note, and decided to make a quick detour to my box. To my utter shock, I had another surprise waiting for me. My eyes widened as I lifted out a single blood red rose, with a scroll attached. I looked around, to see if anyone else was looking, but they were too absorbed in what they were doing.

I unrolled the scroll carefully, not knowing what to expect.

_**You were all I could think about this weekend. Say you will accompany me to the dance this Friday?**_

I tried not to squeal with delight as I read his words. He asked me. I was going to meet Gentleman this Friday. I was finally going to figure out who he was. For the rest of the day, I was on cloud nine. Even though the dance was five days away, my stomach was already filled with butterflies. I wrote back to Gentleman about two classes later, telling him that I would love go.

I walked into lunch, ready to share the news with Rose and Alice. But apparently Rose had some news of her own.

"Built For You asked me to the dance!" she shrieked happily once I came into hearing shot of the table.

"Oh he did?" I replied, faking a pout, "Well, that's just perfect."

Rosalie suddenly looked sympathetic. I didn't come across a sympathetic Rose often, so I knew she must be in a good mood. "He'll ask you Bella, don't worry, it's still early."

"No," I said solemnly. "I meant it's perfect because Gentleman asked me too!" We all erupted into very girl like squeals, earning us curious looks from the sophomore boys beside us.

"I told you!" Alice whispered, once we calmed down. "You guys need to listen to me more often! I know these things," she said, tapping her forehead.

"Now, I just need to learn how to dance," I said, taking a bite of my sandwich. The last thing I wanted was to show up with two left feet and make a fool of myself. What if Gentleman was a great dancer? He would probably be really turned off if I brought him down all night with my poor dancing skills.

"I'll teach you," said Rose. "I had to take ball room dance classes once; I don't think I've ever forgotten. But I kind of want to practice too, just to make sure."

"Oh will you?" I asked, breathing a sigh of relief. "I don't know a thing though, so it might take a while."

"That's okay; we'll start after school today, the gym is usually free until 4."

"Great." Well, I thought. At least now I could have some experience and wouldn't completely embarrass myself.

After school, I went to my locker to throw in my books and headed for the gym. I pulled open the heavy door, and saw Rose in the middle, holding out her arms and dancing with herself. I couldn't help but laugh at her serious face. She spun towards me once she heard me and glared.

"I'm a bit rusty," she said. "But I'll be better with practice, get over here we need all the time we can get."

"Where's Alice?" I said, making my way over to her.

"She ran out to my car for a second, she'll be back."

"Oh."

After about ten minutes of dancing, it seemed I was only getting worse.

"OUCH!" shrieked Rose, after I had stepped on her foot for the sixth or seventh time. Its go right then step back!" she scolded, reaching down to rub her toe.

"Ugh, I'm sorry Rose, this is hopeless, I obviously have no coordination whatsoever." I felt my face growing hot, and I was just about to suggest we call it a day when the door to the gym creaked open again.

Alice came in, followed by Edward, Jasper and Emmett. What was she doing?

"Hey girls," she said happily. "The guys are going to teach us a few dance moves; I told them how you needed help Bella."

"Oh thanks Alice," I muttered, but gave a small smile to the boys at the same time. I looked down to see Alice carrying a small CD player. She walked over to the wall and plugged it in. Jasper came over, pulled a CD out of his back pocket and handed it to her. She smiled up at him, grabbed the CD and popped it in. A low beautiful song came out of the speakers. The whole gym echoed with the melody, and we all listened closely for a minute.

"Wow," I said a little breathlessly, "That's beautiful. Who is that?" I asked, turning to Jasper.

"Not too sure," he grinned. "I found it lying around my house." But after that, he picked Alice up off the floor and began to twirl her effortlessly around the gym whispering something to her under his breath.

"May I?" said a velvety voice. Edward was bent over with his hand behind his back. I grinned widely. I loved how I didn't feel embarrassed with Edward. And I was sure he was a great dancer, I had the distinct feeling that he was probably good at everything.

"You may," I agreed, placing my hand in his. I jumped a little at the temperature that I felt radiating off him. He must have just come from outside, because his hand was unnaturally cool. The second he had a firm grasp on my hand, he pulled me close until I was flush against his hard body.

I held my breath, shocked at the sudden closeness. I looked into his face, only to see him giving me the widest smile I had ever seen from him. But before I could gather my thoughts, I felt myself spinning and gliding across the gym floor. Edward kept me close, and he gave a whole new meaning to the idea of being swept off your feet. I could tell my toes were barely grazing the floor, he must have been holding at least half of my body weight.

After a couple minutes, I began to relax and enjoy the sensation of being this close to him. He smelled so unbelievably good once again, and his whole aura was just so masculine and every time I looked up, his eyes were on me. I felt myself spiraling toward submission by his touch. At this point, he probably could have danced me out of the school and across the parking lot and I wouldn't have noticed. All thoughts of the dance and of Gentleman were lost.

"See," he breathed into my ear softly after a few moments. "You're a natural; you just needed a little experience."

I tried not to close my eyes at the soothing sound of his voice. What was with this boy? I felt like I was being seduced in the best way, and I liked it. I definitely had never met anyone like him. I swallowed and glanced back up into his eyes.

"You're doing all the work," I told him. I felt him pull me closer.

"This isn't work," he answered. I didn't know if that required a response, so I stayed quiet, melting back into him, suddenly wanting to stay in this moment more than anything.

I vaguely saw Alice and Jasper, laughing in the corner of the gym, practicing some more upbeat dance moves. I laughed quietly in Edward's shoulder. To my right, Rosalie and Emmett were dancing as well, although they weren't moving around as much. When we passed by them, I caught a small bit of their conversation.

"See," said Emmett in a soft deep voice. "You're a great dancer, you were built for this."

I guess Rosalie didn't hear him because I heard her ask. "What did you just say?"

Edward spun me away and I didn't catch the rest. It felt like hours passed before we finally stopped. It was probably more like twenty minutes, but dancing with Edward made me forget all about unimportant things like time. To my displeasure, Alice shut the music off abruptly.

I reluctantly released my hold on Edward and stepped back shyly.

"Thank you," I told him, meeting his eyes. "I needed that."

He smiled warmly in response.

"It was my pleasure." We stared back at each other for another moment before walking back to Alice, who was flipping through an assortment of CDs. Rosalie came over a moment later with Emmett closely behind.

Edward cocked his head towards Emmett has he approached, and I watched as Emmett shrugged in response smiling.

Rosalie walked over to me and gave me a huge hug. I stumbled back, chuckling at her enthusiasm. "What's that for?"

"I'm just…so happy." She turned back to Emmett. "Emmett is an… amazing dancer," she finished hastily.

"Well I think Edward could give him a run for his money, I didn't step on his toes once!" I joked, smiling back to Edward. Rosalie didn't seem to hear me. She was staring at Alice, but once she saw me looking she spoke.

"What are you putting on now?" she asked.

Alice smiled. "One of my favorite songs. We need to practice, so I figured that we should try and lead the boys this time. Just to see if we learned anything."

_Learned anything_, I thought. I definitely didn't learn a thing. The whole dance was just a blur to me now. My mind was completely muddled the whole time; I didn't think I needed to remember anything.

I turned to Edward guiltily. "I'd watch your feet if I were you."

He threw his head back and laughed loudly, but followed me back on to the dance floor anyway. I held out my arms, trying to look professional, but I ended up just causing both of us to laugh. He stepped in and put my arms in the proper place.

A low haunting beat came out the speakers, echoing loudly across the gym. I smiled when I realized I knew the song. But when I stared up at Edward he suddenly looked a little sad.

_I've been, watching your world from afar_

_I've been, trying to be where you are. _

_And I've been, secretly falling apart…unseen._

_To me, you're strange and you're beautiful_

_You'd be, so perfect with me, but you just can't see_

_You turn every head, but you don't see me…_

I gave him a questioning look. But when he noticed it, his face broke into a smile, and he swung me down until my head almost touched the floor. I was scared for a moment, but I realized it was impossible not to feel safe in his arms.

"So, you're practicing for the dance?" he asked me, as I struggled to lead him around the floor.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm not really much of a dancer though."

"You're doing fine," he told me. "You're a quick learner."

"I don't know about that. But my mom always told me I was perceptive, maybe since you're so good, I'm just picking up on it." I smiled.

He raised one eyebrow and smirked, looking devastatingly sexy. "Perceptive?" he repeated.

I shrugged. "That's what she said." _**HA**_**, I can't write that phrase without laughing.)**

"I see," he answered, swinging me around. A question suddenly bubbled to my lips and before I could stop myself I asked him.

"Are you going to the dance, did anyone ask you?"

"No one asked me," he replied, not meeting my gaze.

I suddenly felt mad. Why the hell didn't anyone ask him? He was a great guy. If I didn't already have a date with Gentleman I would definitely ask him to go. We had become pretty good friends this past week. Oh yeah, the past week. He was in a social comatose before that. Maybe it was his choice; he really didn't like to bother with anyone. Yeah, that must be it. Besides, I knew he could find a date easily if he wanted to go, so it must be his decision.

I let it go.

"So," he continued, breaking me from my thoughts. "Is it a formal dance?"

"Yeah," I answered. "We bought dresses this weekend specifically for it. I'm not much of a shopper, but Alice found me a really nice black and gold one."

"Black and gold?" He mused, still spinning me.

"Yup, so I guess now all I needed were these dancing lessons. So thanks Edward, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome Bella."

"Hey you two!" said a loud voice from across the gym. We turned to see Alice bent over the CD player again, lowering the volume. "We got to get out of here before the volleyball team comes in."

I couldn't help but notice that I felt disappointed. I was having fun with Edward, and didn't want to leave yet.

"Right," I said, walking over to the bleachers to grab my backpack. Once everyone got their things, we headed out into the hallway towards the parking lot.

"Wait, I'll be right back," I said, wanting to check my box again. Alice and Rosalie nodded, and I gave the boys a wave.

I made a quick right to go the mini gym, and opened the door to get inside. I spotted my box from a mile away. For there were 11 roses sitting inside, filling it to capacity. I shook my head smiling as I lifted the entire bouquet out. I grabbed the one from this morning from my side pocket and placed it with the others. A dozen roses. Wow.

Immediately my entire mind went back to Gentleman.

Whoever he was, he sure was sweet.

**Author's Note: Okay 2 things…**

**YES, Bella has indeed picked a black and gold dress. I decided, well at least in my world, she is capable of other colors! Haha. I think were all well aware that she looks GREAT in blue! But she has turned into a fan fiction blueberry, and frankly, she needed to try something new. **

**The song I used in here is called Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung. It a lovely song! And perfect for the story, so I recommend you download it while you read the chapter! )**

**That's all! Review ) **


	6. Chapter 6

_I made a quick right to go the mini gym, and opened the door to get in. I spotted my box from a mile away. For there were 11 roses sitting inside, filling it to capacity. I shook my head smiling as I lifted the entire bouquet out. I grabbed the one from this morning from my side pocket and placed it with the others. A dozen roses. Wow. _

_Immediately my entire mind went back to Gentleman. _

_Whoever he was, he sure was sweet. _

**6**

The days following the dance lessons went by faster than I ever expected. But there was just so much going on. Almost everyone in the school was asked to the dance by their personal pen pal and it's all anyone could talk about. During classes, during lunch, in the hallways, there was always speculation and people trying to find out who was who. I hadn't seen as much of Rose or Alice this week, which was strange. They always seemed to be busy as of late, and I ended up driving myself to school on more than one occasion.

But that was hardly the main thing on my mind. Gentleman and I were closer than ever. Well, I guess as close as you could ever get without actually seeing the person. We wrote back and forth to each other all week, about 4 to 5 notes a day. I don't think I had sat through one class where I wasn't either reading a note, or writing one.

But as Friday drew closer, my fears only grew bigger.

Gentleman and I now knew a lot about each other, and I had grown to care for him. Well, the guy that I had pictured in my head as him anyway. He was always so unbelievably sweet and thoughtful. He wasn't like any of the other boys that I knew at school.

I arrived at school on Friday morning, and the personal ads fever was worse than ever. The teachers had almost given up teaching in their classes, and in two of my periods, the teachers let us out early, probably because they were tired of having to tell us to quiet down.

_**Dear Blushing Beauty,**_

_**Tonight is the night that we finally meet. I've never been looking forward to something more than this. I hope you are not disappointed. Pick you up at 8? **_

_**Gentleman, Box #99**_

_**P.s – Address?**_

I clutched the note to my chest like a little school girl and tried not to skip to my next class. I had to remember to thank Alice for entering me into this thing. Long gone were the days I thought this was pointless and silly. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would meet such a mature and charming boy. But I did. And I couldn't wait to meet him.

I sat down in my seat and opened a pad. I wrote down my address and a quick line about how excited I was and closed it up.

I could have written a longer note, like my previous ones, but today there was too much tension in the air. I noticed that no one was really writing notes like they were the past two weeks. Everyone was anxious, and tired of waiting. Well, we would all find out tonight, that's for sure.

As fourth period rolled around, I plopped into my seat next to Alice. She jumped out of her chair and gave me a huge hug.

"I missed you this week," she pouted, almost falling into my lap.

"I miss you too," I replied chuckling. "Where have you two been?"

"We've both just got a lot going on with this personal ads thing," she said, turning to sit back down. "But don't worry; everything will go back to normal soon."

"It better!" I scolded, trying to sound serious. I know I would have wondered more about their absence if I hadn't been so wrapped up in writing Gentleman. They were probably doing the same.

I suddenly felt a wave of anxiety for my two friends. I hope they liked their pen pals too. I realized I was just as worried for them as I was for myself. If I did end up liking Gentleman, I know I wouldn't be as happy unless my friends were too.

Was there any chance that all three of us would be happy with our dates?

"I'm coming over at 5:00 to do your hair," said Alice, interrupting my thoughts and crossing her legs into the aisle.

"Okay," I agreed, completely forgetting for a second that this was something I had to look nice for. Thank god I had Alice.

"And I asked Rose this morning, she's coming too so she can do our makeup," she continued, beginning to whisper since the teacher had just walked in.

I nodded and turned to the front just as the class began.

Once lunch came around I couldn't help but run into the cafeteria. I had over heard another personal ad horror story in my 5th period class and my nerves were acting up again. I needed to talk to Rose and Alice.

I sat down at the table and put my two hands face down in front of me.

"I can't do this," I panted, looking directly at Rose.

"Can't do what?" she asked, eyeing me curiously. I looked her over before I answered, noticing she a picture of composure.

"How can you be so calm!?" I accused. "Aren't you nervous at all about meeting Built For You? What if you don't like him?"

"Impossible. I like him a lot. He's perfect," she stated with a big smile.

"But…but…" I sputtered, waving my hands wildly. "How can you be so sure?"

"Bella," she sighed, resting her hand on mine. "Calm down. You can tell a lot about people from their letters. Gentleman isn't pretending, he's probably a great guy and you're going to be happy."

I took a deep breath, her words relaxing me only a little.

"I hope your right," I said, pulling out my lunch.

"I'm always right," she responded, reaching over to grab my water bottle.

The next moment, Alice sat down, and the three of us discussed our plans for the rest of the lunch period.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, and once I got in my car, I realized that this was it. I was finally going to get all my answers. In only 5 hours time, I was finally going to meet Gentleman.

I sat still for a second, watching the students of Forks High file out of the school. There were boys everywhere, but which one was he? Was he tall? Short? Not that it mattered, but the one thing we hadn't discussed was physical appearance. We shied away from that subject, as did everyone else. Pretty much the secret of who people were was kept under wraps, which surprised me since Jessica Stanley had access to all that information.

I turned the ignition and slowly backed out the parking space. Right before I pulled out, I heard someone beep. I looked to my left and saw Edward with his window rolled down, giving me a big smile and a wave.

I couldn't help but smile back.

I had hardly seen him since the dance lesson, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about him at all. He was always kind of there, in the back of my mind. Usually when my thoughts were on Gentleman, they would stray to Edward, and I would kind of hope that Gentleman would take my breath away like Edward did that day in the gym.

Too bad Edward wasn't going; maybe we could have had another chance to dance. I waved back and pulled onto the main road to go home.

No one was home when I arrived, which I was grateful for. I let myself in, grabbed a soda from the fridge, and headed upstairs to my room. I was glad I had an hour before Rose and Alice came over, I wanted to take a long shower and work out some of my nerves.

I turned on the hot water until it was almost unbearable, and inched my way in. I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry scented shampoo and didn't come out for another half hour. When I got out and began to blow dry my hair, I left the door open to listen for Alice to come.

She did, about fifteen minutes later. Followed by Rose, ten minutes after that.

I let Alice sit me on a stool and curl my hair. When she finished, I smiled at myself in the mirror. It came out perfectly. I hope it was a good omen for the rest of the evening.

Rosalie walked in the bathroom with her makeup supplies, and immediately started working on all of our faces.

My hair was curled softly around my shoulders. Rosalie had applied a little eyeliner and mascara that made my eyes look brighter than ever. She accented my lips with a natural color, and I was more than satisfied about how it came out.

Two hours later, all of our hair and makeup was done, and all we had left to do was get dressed. Alice and Rose went home to get ready and wait for their dates at around 7:00.

Once the door shut and I realized they were gone, I panicked. Without the buffer of them being there and distracting me, I had nothing else to think about other than my impending date that was going to be here in just an hour. I wish that we all planned to get picked up together. But it was too late for that. I headed back upstairs to get dressed.

I pulled out the black and gold dress that was tucked away safely in the back of my closet. I took it out and held it up, admiring my choice. I slipped it on. The material moved gently around me as I went to look at myself in the mirror.

I gazed back at myself with a pleased smile on my face. I went to my dresser to get a little perfume and dabbed it on my wrists and neck. I touched up my hair one last time, put on a bit more lip gloss that Rosalie had left for me, and went to go wait downstairs. I took a deep breath.

Now, I was totallv and completely ready.

Without anything to distract me, I began to pace nervously up and down the hallway in front of the door. I still had time left.

I thought back to my friends once again. I wonder if they were doing the same thing I was, pacing like this. But I quickly dismissed that thought, because they were nothing but calm all day. How could that be?

_7:50_

_Oh god._

_Ten minutes._

I couldn't take this anxiety. I almost felt like I was going to be sick. I leaned back against the wall to try and calm myself. I know Gentleman is a nice guy, I repeated like a mantra in my head. Everything is going to be fine, what's the worst that could happen?

I hated being this nervous, with my stomach in knots. My hands were wringing frantically in front of me. I always got this way when it came to boys, well except Edward. I hoped that I could be comfortable around this guy, and get along with him like I did with Edward.

I took a deep breath to once again try and stop my pounding heart, but it was no use. I don't think I had ever been this high strung in my life.

For another long five minutes, all I did was pace anxiously up and down in front the door.

Finally, at exactly 8:00, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," I called out quietly to the empty house.

I walked slowly to the door, worried that my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Could Gentleman really be as wonderful as his letters? What if he was a creep? What if he was lying and we really had nothing in common? These thoughts flooded my mind as I reached for the doorknob.

On the other hand, what if he was exactly like his letters? What if he was the guy of my dreams? A guy more unbelievable than I had expected.

I took a final deep breath and opened the door.

I kept my eyes lowered for a moment, before I gathered up my courage and looked up to find myself staring at….

_Edward Cullen._

I blinked for a moment and then gasped. Edward? _Edward was Gentleman? _It couldn't be! Or could it?

"Edward?" I said in a breathless voice.

All at once, a million wheels started turning in my head, slowly clicking into place. Edward had never been anything but kind, sweet, _and_ charming. He was always polite and more mature than anyone else at our school…he was such a…a…_**gentleman**_!

I stared at him in amazement. I felt my heart start to pound all over again. Suddenly everything made complete sense. _Edward was Gentleman!_ How could I have not figured it out before?

He was nervously clutching an enormous bouquet of pink flowers.

"For you," he said, thrusting them toward me. He gave me a huge, crooked grin. His special grin. He looked absolutely adorable.

I felt the smile spread across my face as I took the flowers. I looked back up at him and shook my head slowly, still grinning. He was wearing a black tux with a gold tie and cumber bund. I distantly remembered the conversation about my dress in the gym.

All at once, all our conversations were coming back to me.

"Thank you…for both," I told him shyly, remembering the red roses he had given me earlier.

"You look beautiful tonight," he responded as he gazed at me.

"Thanks…you look great as well," I responded. I was still in a partial state of shock. "I thought you said you weren't going?"

It was a stupid comment, but it was all I could think of.

He smiled back at me. Apparently he didn't think it was stupid at all. "You asked me if I was asked to the dance, and I said no," he told me softly. "But I never said I wasn't going."

I let out a soft laugh, all his comments this week taking on a new meaning.

He leaned down and whispered into my ear, "Shall we go to the dance?"

"I'd love to," I whispered back, still clutching the roses. I linked my arm with his and floated out the door with him, the happiest girl in the world.

**Author's Note: I know that it is shorter than my usual chapters, but I thought this was the perfect place to stop! But there's more to come! )**

**P.s. – Pictures of dresses now in my profile!**


	7. Chapter 7

_He leaned down and whispered into my ear, "Shall we go to the dance?"_

"_I'd love to," I whispered back, still clutching the roses. I linked my arm with his and floated out the door with him, the happiest girl in the world._

**7**

I couldn't help but keep glancing at Edward as we walked into the yard. Edward was the one who wrote me all those letters. Edward was the one who wrote music and loved Shakespeare. Edward was the one who bought me the candy and the flowers, and Edward was the one who swept me off my feet.

_Wow_.

I was suddenly overwhelmed with happiness at the turn of events. He was more than I was ever expecting, and I realized that if it was anyone else at my door, it would have just been a disappointment. I couldn't take my eyes off him.

This was incredible.

Taking my gaze off him for the first time, my eyes wandered to where he was leading me. A stretch hummer was parked conspicuously in my driveway.

"Oh my," I gasped, my mouth dropping open. "We're going in that?"

He chuckled softly. "Not just us," was his answer.

As soon as the words left his mouth, I heard the buzz of the automatic window rolling down.

"Finally!" said a familiar voice. "Get in biotch!"

"Rosalie??" I balked. "What are you doing here?"

"She's with me," said a deep voice from inside the car. Emmett's face popped up right beside hers. He was glowing with pride. My hand flew to my mouth. More images came rushing into my head. _Emmett was Built For You??_

I walked unsteadily towards the car, shocked at all these new revelations. And just when I thought that there was nothing else that could surprise me, Alice's head flew up out of the sunroof.

"'Bella!" she called happily, leaning her arms on the edge. "That dress looks great."

I gaped at her, she was here too?!

_Jasper!_

Jasper must be Sensitive Soul? Wow, wow, wow.

Edward beamed at me, amused at my changing facial expression no doubt. And I allowed him to guide me into the hummer. I stared openly at my two friends as I heard him get in and shut the door.

"All right, we're all here! Let's go," said Emmett to the driver, with his arm draped around Rosalie's shoulder. She looked positively ecstatic.

Once we pulled out of the driveway, all eyes were on me. I didn't know what to say, I felt as if I couldn't form coherent words. Could this really all be happening?

"Are you surprised?" said Alice, bouncing from her place on Jasper's lap.

I mouthed like a goldfish, unable to speak.

"It was so hard not to tell you," Rosalie said, giving me a look of sympathy.

"Wait, wait, wait," I said quickly, suddenly finding my voice. "You _knew_?!_"_

"Only since Monday, Alice knew for a whole week."

I turned my penetrating gaze to Alice. She gave me a guilty smile, trying to analyze my reaction. Finally she spoke.

"Bella, I'm so sorry, I was asked to keep the secret, and I didn't even mean to find out! Everything just happened so quickly and…" she trailed off and Jasper squeezed her shoulder affectionately.

"It's okay," I told her, nothing could really ruin my good mood. "How did you find out though?"

She brightened at the chance to tell her story. She rested her head on Jasper's shoulder and began to speak.

"Well, it was that day of the car accident, you know, when I hurt my wrist…."

**Alice's POV**

The second Rosalie stopped the car, I saw Jasper waiting anxiously outside my window. He looked so upset. He is just _so_ adorable, I thought dreamily.

He opened my door and quickly ushered me inside. His house was absolutely amazing, so well decorated too! I would have to talk to his mother about who picked out these designs.

Jasper was holding on to my wrist gently, causing it no pain at all.

"It's really not so bad anymore," I told him with a big smile, trying to ease his worry. He was so nervous! How silly. I wanted to calm him down. I felt as if he was making _me _nervous!

"Do you want me to carry you up the stairs?" he asked, "Can you walk okay?"

_It's just my wrist! _I wanted to say, but the thought of him carrying me up the stairs was just too good to pass up.

"Sure!" I said happily, holding out my arms on either side.

I giggled softly when I felt him scoop me up and race up the stairs. Granted I was always on the smaller side, but he certainly was strong. I could just feel it radiating off him. _Wow._ I rested my head on his shoulder. He smiled down at me as we walked into what I was assuming to be his father's office.

_What a hottie, _I thought, as I looked upon his father for the first time. His whole family was just so good looking! Not as good as Jasper though, he was something else.

I smiled brightly as he set me down in the nearest chair. He dragged another one across the floor so he could sit right beside me. As Carlisle walked over, he reluctantly let go of my hand.

I felt myself pout; I didn't want him to stop touching me. He glanced back to my face and smiled warmly. I giggled again when he picked my hand back up.

"What's going on Jasper," said his father, eyeing him with a wary expression.

"There was a little accident today. Don't worry, everyone's alright. Except Alice here, I think her wrist might be broken." I could tell saying it out loud made him nervous again. He looked back into my eyes. I stared back, unmoving.

After a moment, Carlisle cleared his throat.

"Let's take a look at it, shall we?" He gently removed my wrist from Jasper's hand and examined it with care.

He gave me a sympathetic smile when he finished his inspection.

"Indeed, you've got yourself a broken wrist. It could have been worse, but you will still have to wear a cast for a few weeks."

I frowned. "A cast?"

"Carlisle," Jasper interrupted, "Don't you have some…colorful ones she could wear? A pink one perhaps?"

"Oh yes!" I said, unable to control my excitement. "That would be perfect!"

Carlisle laughed loudly and told us that he would be right back. The second he left the room my eyes turned back to Jasper.

"Thanks," I said beaming. "You've been very sweet to take care of me."

His lips twitched as he stared down at his feet.

"You're welcome, Alice."

Carlisle came back into the room, holding some gauze and a bowl of plaster. In his other hand there was a small bottle of pink liquid. I clapped my hands happily, thinking of all the ways I could accessorize with it.

During the twenty minutes it took to get on my cast, I examined Jasper, who was pacing about the room. Every so often, he would glance up at me to make sure I was okay.

He was so _cute_. He was wearing a Marc Jacobs sweater with Stitch Texas khaki's. What a great sense of style he had. Some of my personal favorite designers!

Hmm.

I narrowed my eyes a bit and trailed my gaze down his body to his feet.

Just as I thought. Bobby Dene's vintage boots.

I was so deep in thought that I barely noticed when Carlisle finished my cast.

"There," he told me. "All done."

"Eee!" I squealed when I saw my new bright hand wear. Once I got up, I stood on my tip toes and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you so much Jasper's dad! It's so cute!"

Jasper and Carlisle laughed at my comment, and Carlisle gave Jasper a pat on the back. He went to sit back down at his desk, and I suddenly remembered what I had been thinking about earlier.

"Hey Jasper," I said, jumping up and down. "Can I see your room?"

He looked confused for a moment, but then nodded his head in agreement. He led me out of Carlisle's office and up a flight of stairs. I opened the door for myself when he pointed out which room was his.

I immediately skipped over to the closet, needing to confirm my suspicions.

_Let me be right! _

Although… I was already fairly sure. I was good at figuring things out.

I flipped through all of his clothes, getting more excited by the minute.

He came up behind me. "What are you looking for?" he chuckled.

At the sound of his voice, I spun around and threw myself into his arms, latching myself around his neck.

"Oh Jasper!" I said, "It's you!"

I felt his arms wrap around me tightly, almost crushing my small frame to his body. He didn't answer, but buried his face into my neck.

"It's me," he admitted sheepishly, not even trying to pretend he didn't know what I was talking about.

At hearing him admit it, I squealed again and hugged him tighter. He laughed at my reaction, his breath blowing into my ear.

_I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!_ I praised myself. This was too good to be true! I should have figured this out ages ago!

I pulled back and stared into his eyes.

"I'm so happy it's you," I told him softly, not breaking my gaze.

He was smiling brightly, as if he could feel my happiness.

"I'm so glad you figured it out," he finally said. "I was so worried you would be disappointed."

"Disappointed? Jasper, we're perfect for each other." I stated matter of factly. I wasn't embarrassed about saying it…it was true, and we both knew it.

"Hold on, you knew it was me you were writing to?" I said suspiciously, as his previous comment sunk in.

"I knew," he said, suddenly gazing out the window. "You were the only person I would want to write to."

I ignored my gut feeling that told me there was more to that story, and decided to concentrate on his words instead.

"Oh Jasper," I said breathlessly, staring back into his eyes.

"Don't mention anything yet," he said, after a few minutes. "My brothers still want to keep it secret."

I raised my eyebrows at him. Why would they care whether or not we kept it a secret? He was giving me a penetrating look, almost willing me to figure it out. He nodded his head toward the window.

I walked over, and looked down. My eyes wandered to Rosalie's car. I saw Bella and Edward talking in the front seats. Bella was saying something animatedly with her hands that made Edward throw his head back with laughter.

Edward was Gentleman.

I gasped and jumped excitedly.

Bella is gonna _flip!_

But wait, Jasper said brothers. That means…Emmett and Rose!

I could barely contain my enthusiasm! I laughed loudly and threw myself back in Jasper's waiting arms.

"Well, it's going to be hard but, your secrets safe with me," I said, as we swayed back and forth.

"And you're safe with me," he whispered, right before he pressed his lips gently against mine.

**Bella's POV**

"Wow," I breathed, staring at the two of them stare at each other. "So that's the secret you were talking about? And that's why you've been acting so strangely this past week?"

She nodded. "I'm so sorry Bella, do you forgive me?" She gave me her best pout face. Jasper stared down at her adoringly.

I looked up Edward, and took in his beautiful face. How could I be mad right now? He bent down to kiss my forehead and I felt my eyelids close. It was Rose's voice who broke me out of my daze.

"Well _I _almost didn't forgive her," she said with a smirk. "It was Monday…you know, the day we were all in the gym practicing…"

**Rosalie's POV**

_God was he sexy._

I couldn't help but push out my chest a bit as he directed me around the dance floor. I arched into the arm that he had around my waist.

I couldn't help but melt into his touch. He towered over me and was looking at me in a way that was making me weak.

But there was no way I would let him get the upper hand. He doesn't know who he's messing with.

I pressed my chest farther into him and gave him my signature smirk. I knew his eyes were on me, but I refused to look back. I looked every where else, determined to prove that he couldn't get to me so easily.

But it was hard, I wanted nothing more than to stare back into his handsome face and spend the rest of the day imagining all the ways he would-

_Ugh!_ I scolded myself. I can't believe I was even thinking these things! I didn't pine after the male species! The male species pined after me!

Except for Emmett.

Emmett hadn't even noticed me since he came to Forks High. It was as if I wasn't even there. No matter what I wore, I didn't even get a second glance. I never wanted to admit how much that bothered me. I hadn't even told Bella or Alice. I mean, I knew that I could have whatever guy in the school I wanted.

Except him.

I frowned as all this information swam around inside my head.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slowing down his movements.

"Nothing," I lied, embarrassed that I had been caught. "I'm just upset that I didn't remember as much as I thought from my dancing classes."

Instead of answering, he gave me a huge smile and picked up the pace. Even though it startled me, I had too much pride to show it. I kept up with him perfectly, keeping my face calm and collected the entire time.

"See," said Emmett in a soft deep voice. "You're a great dancer, you were built for this."

_Built for this. Built for this._

Those words echoed in my head.

"What did you just say?" I asked him, unlocking my arms and placing them on my hips.

"I said you're a great dancer?" he repeated, making it into a question. He backed up a little when he saw the expression on my face.

My eyes narrowed. I took a step forward.

"Did you say I was…_Built For This?"_ I crossed my arms tightly and glared at him. Just waiting for him to say something that would confirm the questions in my mind.

He gave me a curt nod.

"Oh yeah?" I said, pointing my finger into his chest. "And what are you built for?"

Our lips were inches away from each other but he stayed silent. After a few moments, I got nervous when he didn't answer me. What if I was wrong? What if he had no idea what I was talking about and thought I was now a complete lunatic?

The second I started to waver, I heard him whisper.

"You."

"Built…for me?"

"Built…for you."

I took a step back, absolutely shocked. After he said that, I had my suspicions, but hearing the words come out of his mouth was staggering.

"Are you upset?" his deep voice asked me as he gauged my expression His caramel eyes boring into mine.

I let my eyes wander all over his face, down his large toned body and back into his eyes.

"Hell no," I whispered quietly, more to myself. But he obviously heard me because he visibly let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I yanked him toward me and pressed myself as close as possible.

"Positive," I breathed, right against his lips. I had no control of my cheek muscles, and I realized I probably had the stupidest looking grin on my face. But I didn't care.

'_Built For You' was Emmett Cullen!_

"Built for me," I said silkily into his ear. "Tell me again."

"Built for you," he repeated gently, "Only you."

Hearing his words made me giggle and rest my head on his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. I kissed the side of his neck and sighed happily. His skin was so cool, it felt amazing against mine.

I had the overwhelming urge to kiss his lips. It's what I wanted to do since the moment I saw him. And I didn't feel like waiting anymore. I lifted my head until our mouths were basically touching.

"Kiss me," I told him, shutting my eyes.

To my surprise, he didn't respond. My eyes swung open to see what the hell the hold up was.

"Damnit Rose," he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "I want to, you know I want to, but…we can't…not here." I noticed he was staring at my lips with a hungry expression.

I felt my anger flare up. "Why not?" I snapped, putting my hands back on my hips.

"Because," he whispered, leaning into me. "Edward hasn't told Bella that he's Gentleman yet, and she might put two and two together if she finds out that Jasper and I have been writing to you and Alice."

"_WHAT_!" I shrieked loudly. I barely got any words out before he put his hand up to my mouth silencing me.

"Rose," he said with his hand still over my mouth. "You have to be quiet! Bella doesn't know yet, Edward wants it to be kept secret until the dance. We all did, but Alice figured it out last week, and now you today."

My eyes narrowed at the thought of Alice knowing and not telling me. She was SO going to hear my mouth! Just wait until I got my hands on her, that little- But my train of thought completely shifted as I looked back up into Emmett's face.

Why was I wasting my time being angry when I had this strong handsome man in front of me? I scolded myself silently and motioned for him to remove his hand. He looked a little wary at first, but obliged me.

I gave him the sexiest face I could muster, and smiled when I heard him groan under his breath.

**Bella's POV**

I shook my head in amazement when Rosalie finished her story. I heard the beginning of that conversation between the two of them that day in the gym! I remembered! Why didn't I pick that up?

Oh yeah, I was too busy being mesmerized by everything Edward. My heart skipped a beat as I felt his presence besides me.

I gave him a shy smile. "This is all so…" I told him, trying to think of a good enough word. I looked around at everyone in the car. "Perfect," I finally said, letting out a big breath.

He eyes lit up at my words and he reached out to pull me closer.

"I was nervous," he admitted, whispering so only I would hear. "I was nervous that I wasn't going to be what you expected."

"It was definitely not what I expected," I told him honestly. "It was…so _so_ much better, Edward. I couldn't be happier that it was you who came to my door tonight."

I rested my head against the back seat, and he did the same so we were facing each other. We took the moment to drink each other in. I was studying his face, marveling at how beautiful it was. I watched his eyes flicker to my mouth.

_Oh please, Oh please kiss me_. I thought hopefully. For a second, I really thought he was going to, but we were interrupted by the driver.

"We're here kids."

**Author's Note: Thank you all so so so so so much for my reviews! I didn't get the chance to respond to them last chapter because I wanted to hurry up and get this chapter out! But I read them all, and they all made my day, and I will definitely answer the ones from this chapter! Thanks so much again! )**


	8. Chapter 8

I sat up a little on the seat and looked out the dark window. Sure enough, we had arrived at Forks High where the dance would be taking place. We all got out of the car and Edward immediately took my hand in his. I squeezed it back affectionately and gave him a big smile.

I still couldn't get over everything that Rosalie and Alice had told me. But now that they did, I felt a little silly. There were so many clues the whole week that had just been staring me in the face, how could I have not figured out sooner that Edward was Gentleman?

But as I looked up at him, it didn't matter. I knew now, and that was all that I cared about. I took another moment to eye him appreciatively, admiring the fact that he had managed to match his outfit with mine. Wait? _How did he know?_

I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to remember the exact conversation I had with him in the gym the day of our dance lessons. I was fairly sure I had mentioned my dress. So that meant he must have known beforehand what to wear…he knew it was me before tonight.

"Edward?" I asked tentatively, slowing my pace. "Did you know it was me before tonight?" I was pretty sure he did, but I wanted to make sure.

He looked taken aback by my question and he faltered for just a moment.

"Yes," he sighed. "I did." He gripped my hand tighter and tried to bring us back into stride with the others. But now I was curious, how did he find out?

"Edward?" I asked again, "How?" I slowed him down and looked straight into his eyes, willing him to tell me the truth. But the affect backfired on me, because once he turned to return my gaze, I felt myself slipping under the intensity of it. His ocher eyes bore into mine with such sincerity and desire that I had never felt from anyone before.

I knew before he even said anything that there was a slight blush on my cheeks.

He gave me a half smile and brought his hand up to brush it lightly against my skin.

"Your blush," he whispered, "It gave you away."

_Blushing Beauty_. But that didn't explain how he knew what to wear, and I told him so, well once I regained my composure. He bristled again and ran his hands through his hair.

"Maybe I was wrong," he admitted. "You can be pretty perceptive."

I was just about to open my mouth to find out more but we had reached the entrance to the school and had to buy our tickets. Edward immediately stilled my hand when I reached for my purse. Even though he had already spent so much money, I decided not to fight him. I didn't want to cause any more disturbances tonight. I was here with Edward and I just wanted to enjoy his company.

Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper were waiting for us by the double doors that led into the gym. Emmett and Rose walked in first, and the rest of us followed closely after.

"Wow," I said softly, taking in all the decorations. It looked absolutely beautiful. Instead of being cheesy with red and white cut out hearts, the whole gym had a very intimate feel. There were small tables spread throughout the room, lit with candles and long tablecloths. The lights were dimmed and there were curtains on the walls, held together with golden tassels. And there were so many roses in the room that the whole place emanated an inviting flowery scent.

But the beauty of the room ended there.

As I took a better look at my surroundings I couldn't help but notice that almost everyone had a miserable scowl on their face. On one side of the gym stood the girls, huddled in small groups, talking furiously to their friends while gesturing to the other side of the gym where the boys stood. The boys also look dejected and miserable, leaning against the wall and eyeing the girls with contempt.

"Looks like the personals didn't work out well for everyone." Edward said as he bent down to whisper into my ear.

"Everyone else doesn't matter," I replied, letting him lead me to one of the only tables that seated six. But as I looked around the room, I did feel slightly bad for them. That could have been me, I thought with a shudder. If anyone else showed up at the door tonight, that _would_ have been me.

The six of us took our seats and fell into a comfortable conversation. But it was hard not to notice all the curious stares we were getting from everyone in the room. Even though the two sides had begun to merge, groups of people were still throwing looks our way.

"God, can they be anymore obvious?" gestured Rosalie to the students. She made it sound as if she was annoyed, but I knew she was secretly relishing in the attention.

"They're just jealous," said Emmett. "Unhappily surprised by who their dates turned out to be."

"Speaking of surprised," I interrupted, suddenly remembering something from earlier. "Edward here already knew that it was me before he came to my house."

"Jasper knew too…that day in his room," added Alice, her eyes narrowing as if she was remembering something herself. Rosalie quickly added in her agreeance as she turned to Emmett.

All at once, the boys became very uncomfortable.

"Well there is only one irresistible blond in this high school," said Emmett with a wide grin. "It wasn't that hard to figure out."

Rosalie giggled and then whispered something in his ear, making his grin grow even wider. I guess she was going to accept that explanation, or she didn't really care how he had found out. I turned to see Jasper saying something to Alice making her laugh and place her hand on his heart.

I turned to Edward to hear his worthy explanation.

He wore a calm expression, and his body was angled so he was facing me. He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and bent down so our faces were only inches apart.

"I found out from Jessica," he whispered. I felt his sweet breath brush against my lips. I had to hold myself back from licking them, just to taste him.

"You did?" I asked incredulously. "She told you?"

"Not exactly," he replied, looking a bit uncomfortable.

I pondered that for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what he meant. Jessica was the one with all the information. She knew who everyone was. Maybe he snuck a look at her notes, maybe he heard her whisper to me the day she handed me my box number. It could have been a lot of things. But that was no longer the question on my mind. Now I was wondering why it was me he wanted to write to.

"Why did you want to write to me?" I said voicing my thoughts. I realized that it was a direct question and automatically became a little embarrassed. He didn't seem to mind. He took both of my hands in his own and lightly traced circles over my wrists.

"Bella," he said sincerely, "I've wanted to talk to you from the moment I first saw you."

I think he could tell I didn't believe him from the look on my face. First off, why would someone like him be interested in me? And secondly, before these past two weeks, he had completely ignored me. If someone asked me before this whole thing, I would have told them that there was no way the new kid even knew I existed.

"Bella it's true," he pushed, the intensity of his gaze becoming stronger. "I've never been remotely interested in anyone before, and then all the sudden I move here, and I see you. The attraction I felt…I _feel_…is unmatched. I have wanted to talk to you for so long, but I had to make sure it was safe…" he trailed off looking down.

"Safe?" I questioned, confused by his word choice.

He shook his head quickly.

"Just that you wouldn't reject me," he said, "That's why the personals seemed like a good idea. So you could get to know me first."

I tried to think of a scenario of where I would ever reject him, but none came to mind. I would tell him that, but that might be laying it on a bit too thick. Instead, I gave him my best reassuring smile, even though I was still unconvinced about his use of the word safe.

"Well, whatever the true reason. I'm glad you wrote me Edward, I really like you," I blushed, trying my best to keep eye contact as I said it.

I didn't notice as the gym filled up with people, because Edward and I were in our own little world. We sat talking about anything and everything, eyes locked on only each other. I had never gotten along with anyone this well, and he just understood me. My heart felt right.

"Bella?" a voice said from behind me. I jerked around to see Angela standing there smiling, arm and arm with Ben Cheney.

"Angela," I said happily, getting up to give her a hug. "Hey Ben, you guys look great."

"You too," she said, but immediately leaned in close. "So who was Gentleman?"

I blushed and moved out of the way so she could see. Edward stood up politely and held out his hand.

"That would be me," he said. "I'm Edward Cullen; it's very nice to meet you Angela. Hello Ben."

They both shook his hand. Angela looked a bit stunned. She turned to me and gave me a questioning glance. I shrugged in return, giggling a little.

"But if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back." Edward gave me a chaste kiss on the forehead and disappeared into the throng of students that had begun to congregate on the dance floor. I vaguely noticed that the others members of my table were already dancing.

"Edward Cullen," mused Angela. "How's that working out?" She gave me a concerned but warm smile.

_How was it working out_, I thought to myself.

"Perfectly," I told her. The only word that could be used to sum up what I was feeling. "And how about you?" I said eyeing Ben on her arm.

"Angela and I were writing to each other the whole time," said Ben, giving her arm an affectionate squeeze. Angela confirmed with a happy nod.

"That's great guys," I said genuinely. At least there was one other couple in here that had worked out well. I was glad that it was Angela. She definitely deserved to be happy.

I felt a hand on the small of my back and smiled. I turned, expecting to see Edward, but instead was met with Mike Newton.

"Hey Bells," he drawled, eyeing my dress. "You look hott."

"Thanks," I said awkwardly, worming away so we weren't touching.

"Where's your date?" he said as he looked around trying to spot someone near me. "What was his name again, Gentleman?"

"He's um…" I looked around, but Edward was still gone. I frowned wishing that he was here with me. "Here somewhere," I finally answered, turning back to face him.

"Can't find him huh? See, this whole personals ads thing was just a disaster," he began in a knowing voice. "My date turned out to be a complete embarrassment." He leaned in and grabbed my arm. "We should just stick to what we _know_," he leered into my ear.

"All I _know_ is that you better let go of my date," said a dark but calm voice.

Mike immediately dropped by arm and looked past me at something over my shoulder.

"_Cullen_?" he said in disbelief, gazing back at me for confirmation.

"Edward," he corrected, stepping up and snaking his arm around my waist. Mike mouthed soundlessly for a moment then held up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry then," he said, glaring at the both of us. "I'll just be…over there."

And with that he crossed to the other side of the room, throwing dirty looks at us over his shoulder. I watched him go, amused.

"You're so beautiful," he said silkily into my ear. "I can't leave you alone for one second without someone trying to take my spot."

I turned around and latched my arms around his neck.

"There's not a chance of that," I told him honestly, resting my head against him.

"_CHECK, CHECK ONE TWO, CHECK ONE TWO."_

Never failing to ruin the moment, there was Jessica Stanley, once again bellowing into the microphone.

"It seems we have a special request this evening," she began in a vindictive voice. "Gentleman would like to dedicate a song to his date…Blushing Beauty."

I gasped and stared up at Edward.

"Dance with me?" he asked, holding out his hand. How could I refuse something like that? I hated dancing, but I remembered all too well what dancing with Edward had been like, and I eagerly took his hand.

The crowd on the dance floor parted for us. Mostly everyone was whispering, shocked looks on their faces. But I didn't care, all I saw was Edward.

The lights dimmed and Edward took me into his arms. We were now the only ones on the dance floor. But I wasn't nervous, even if we were being stared at. I felt so comfortable in his arms; it was nothing like I had ever felt before. Once the music began to play and I recognized the song, I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

_There is something that I see_

_In the way you look at me_

_There's a smile, there's a truth, in your eyes_

_But in an unexpected way, on this unexpected day_

_Could it be, this is where I belong_

_It is you I have loved all along_

Edward was bringing out emotions in me that I had never felt before, for anyone. Everything seemed so magical, and so right, and just so…much. I put my two hands on the side of his face, smiled up at him and couldn't help it as I silently sang along with the song.

_There's no more mystery_

_It is finally clear to me_

_You're the home my heart searched for, so long_

_And it is you I have loved all along_

He was unblinking as I held his face, looking at me with a look of utter intensity, almost sad. He turned his head and gave my palm a lingering kiss, but then pulled me flush against his body, and I heard him softly singing along with me.

_There are times I ran to hide_

_Afraid to show the other side_

_Alone in the night in the night, without you_

I kissed his ear, and sang softly into his ear, swaying with him on the spot.

_But now I know just who you _

_And I know you hold my heart_

_Finally, this is where I belong_

_It is you I have loved all along_

At this point, a lone tear had slid down my cheek, and Edward nuzzled the side of my face so it brushed onto his own. All the letters that we had written that week came back to me. It was Edward I had been falling in love with the whole time.

_Over and over, I'm filled with emotion_

_Your love it rushes through my veins_

_And I am filled, with the sweetest devotion_

_As I look, into your perfect face_

My arms were wrapped so tight around his neck that my muscles unclenched when I felt him move back to rest his forehead against mine.

"Bella," he whispered against my lips. I leaned forward and kissed the side of his mouth. I pulled back after a moment, but he quickly captured my lips before I could get very far. I fisted my hands into his hair and pressed against him. His lips were cold against my warm. We moved softly together in sync, matching each other movement for movement. Until I heard a wolf whistle call out loudly next to me.

He groaned softly and we broke apart, not happy about the interruption.

Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and Alice had joined us on the dance floor and were cheering us on. I looked up, but for only a second to give Alice and Rose a meaningful look. Alice giggled while Rose threw me a wink. We all turned back to our boys at the same time.

He brushed his lips back and forth against mine ever so lightly.

I smiled, and closed the distance, kissing him for the rest of the song.

He was such a Gentleman…he was so Edward…he was mine…my personal valentine.

**Author's Note: Whew! Okay, well it IS the end of this story. I didn't want to drag it out (you know I'm big on that fact, lol) but I still will do a sequel! I have a couple ideas on it already, but I want to make sure I have an original storyline first. There are also a few more ideas I have running through my head, and I kind of want to get those out too! So look out for them! D**

**A HUGE gigantic thank you to all my reviewers, you guys are the ones that made me write so fast and get the chapters out. I really can't say enough how much I enjoyed your kind words and encouragement. And of course, another thank you to ****vjgm****, who is an ****amazing**** author and helped me with this story and recommended it to others! Thank you to everyone for reading!! D And look out for the sequel!**

**P.s. – The song in here was Dana Glover – It is you I have loved. **


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